Cameroon Democratic Union

The Cameroon Democratic Union (French: Union Démocratique du Cameroun) is a political party in Cameroon. It was founded by Adamou Ndam Njoya, a former Minister of National Education under President Ahmadou Ahidjo, on 26 April 1991.

The CDU boycotted the March 1992 parliamentary election, along with the Social Democratic Front (SDF) due to the government's failure to meet opposition demands, which included the establishment of an independent electoral commission to oversee the election.^[1] In the May 1997 parliamentary election, the UDC won five seats,^[2] all of them in Noun Department in the West Province.^[3] It then boycotted the October 1997 presidential election, along with the Social Democratic Front (SDF) and the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP).^[4]

In the parliamentary election held on 30 June and 15 September 2002, the UDC won 5 seats, all in Noun Department, out of 180 seats nationwide. Adamou Ndam Njoya and John Fru Ndi failed to agree on the designation of an all-opposition single candidate for the presidential election of October 11, 2004. As a result, Ndam Njoya represented a coalition of political parties, the Coalition for National Reconciliation and Reconstruction,^[5] and placed third in the final ballot count, winning 4.47% (168,318 votes).

Njoya was re-elected for another five-year term as CDU Chairman at a party congress in Yaoundé, attended by about 3,000 delegates, on 30 November–2 December 2006; there was no challenger for the position.^[6]

The UDC won four out of the 163 initially declared seats in the July 2007 parliamentary election;^[7][8][9] it won all four of these seats in the Noun Centre constituency, where the party received 58.28% of the vote.^[9] The UDC did not gain any seats in the partial election, held in September, for 17 seats where the initial results were annulled.^[10]

At the time of the 2007 election, the CDU formed an alliance with the Progressive Movement (MP) of Jean-Jacques Ekindi, agreeing not to run candidates in the Wouri Centre constituency, where the MP was competing.^[11]

Electoral history

Presidential Elections

Election	Party candidate	Votes	%	Result
1997	Boycotted
2004	Adamou Ndam Njoya	168,318	4.48%	Lost  N
2011		83,860	1.73%	Lost  N
2018		61,220	1.73%	Lost  N

National Assembly elections

Election	Party leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Government
1992	Adamou Ndam Njoya	Boycotted		0 / 180			Extra-parliamentary
1997		76,644	2.65%	5 / 180	5	4th	Opposition
2002				5 / 180		3rd	Opposition
2007		68,427	2.19%	4 / 180	1	4th	Opposition
2013				4 / 180		4th	Opposition
2020				4 / 180		5th	Opposition

References

1. Victor Julius Ngoh (2004). "Biya and the Transition to Democracy". In John Mukum Mbaku; Joseph Takougang (eds.). The Leadership Challenge in Africa: Cameroon Under Paul Biya. Africa World Press. p. 440. ISBN 9781592211791.
2. "Cameroon National Assembly election, 1997". Inter-Parliamentary Union.
3. . Archived from the original on 14 February 2010.
4. "Cameroon: IRIN-WA Special Briefing on Presidential Elections, 10/11/97". Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa via University of Pennsylvania – African Studies Center. 11 October 1997.
5. . UNHCR. May 2005. Archived from the original on 2006-08-26. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
6. Aimé-Francis Amougou (4 December 2006). "UDC : Ndam Njoya, sans suspense !". Cameroon Tribune (in French). Archived from the original on 24 July 2012.
7. "Les résultats des législatives du 22 juillet 2007 proclamés" (in French). Cameroon government portal. 24 October 2007. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007.
8. (in French). AFP via Jeuneafrique.com. 6 August 2007. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008.
9. "Legislatives 2007: Les résultats de la Cour supreme" (in French). Mutations. 13 August 2007. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012.
10. (in French). Xinhua via Jeuneafrique.com. 15 October 2007. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008.
11. "Ndam Njoya, Ekindi Agree On Mutual Support At Elections". postnewsline.com. 23 June 2007.