2025 Presidentials: MINAT Rules Out Candidacy for Parties That Boycotted 2020 Polls
By Synthia Lateu
The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, has declared that political parties which boycotted past elections in Cameroon are not eligible to present a candidate for the 2025 presidential race.
Speaking on July 16, 2025, during the First Bi-Annual Conference of Regional Governors in Yaoundé, Minister Atanga Nji dismissed ongoing debate over the eligibility of such parties as “fallacious” and urged that the matter be considered closed.
“I want to be clear on this topic, and will say it with authority any political party that boycotted the legislative and municipal elections of February 9, 2020, cannot present a candidate for the 2025 presidential election,” he stated.
He went further with a metaphor: “I will ask those who consider themselves intelligent not to cry more than the bereaved. Those who boycotted the elections are in a situation of funeral.”
However, legal experts have pointed out that Minister Atanga Nji’s declaration has no binding legal authority, as only Elecam backed by the electoral code is empowered to determine the eligibility of candidates for presidential elections.
Among those affected by Atanga Nji’s remarks is Maurice Kamto, a seasoned legal scholar, former Justice Minister Delegate, and leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM). Kamto, whose party boycotted the 2020 elections in protest against weak electoral laws and the Anglophone crisis, has strongly pushed back against claims that he is
In a June 2025 meeting in Paris, Kamto affirmed that there is no legal provision barring him from running in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for October 12, 2025.
“If someone rigs or someone who could not even have been a candidate wins, you cannot contest the result and win,” Kamto had stated in 2020, justifying the CRM’s boycott of that year’s legislative and municipal polls.
Minister Atanga Nji also called on all stakeholders to ensure peace and stability before, during, and after the polls. He reiterated that Cameroon remains strong thanks to the vigilance of President Paul Biya: “Cameroon was not shaken during the 1992 elections, and it will not be shaken in 2025.” He said.
Despite his assurances, the political climate is heating up, with Kamto’s expected candidacy drawing both support and scrutiny.
