Yaoundé agency vets candidates for March 25 election
Nine political parties will take part in Cameroon's March 25 senatorial elections, nation poll agency ELECAM said.
The ELECAM said the nine parties had submitted the lists of their candidates by the February 22 deadline.
ELECAM said its electoral board was now examining the files of the senatorial candidates.
Their interest
The parties in the race include the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) of President Paul Biya, the leading opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) of John Fru Ndi, the National Union for Democracy and Progress (NUDP) headed by Bello Bouba Maïgari and Adamou Ndam Njoya's Cameroon Democratic Union (CDU).
ELECAM Director General Abdoulaye Babale said CPDM and NUDP had indicated their interest to contest in all 10 constituencies, while SDF would contest in nine.
However, only the candidates who will be validated by ELECAM will participate in the poll.
The appointments
Some 9,528 prospective voters are expected to cast their ballots in a poll whose results will be expected not later than 15 days after the vote, according to the law.
The other 30 of the 100-member Upper House will be appointed by the president. The law provides that the appointments be done at most 10 days after the election results are made public.
Enshrined in the 1996 constitution as the Upper House of Parliament, the Senate only became functional following the first ever election in 2013.