Voters in Cameroon cast their ballots on Sunday in a presidential election in which President Paul Biya, 92, who has been in power for 43 years, is considered the clear favorite.
Polling stations closed at 6 p.m. local time (5 p.m. GMT), and official results are expected to be announced no later than October 26.
Analysts predict victory for the incumbent, Paul Biya, who first assumed the presidency in 1982 following the resignation of Cameroon’s first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo, and has ruled the country ever since.
Biya is running against 11 other candidates, including his former minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, whose campaign has generated unexpected enthusiasm.
Cameroonians have lived under Biya’s rule since 1982, during which he has consistently maintained power with vote shares exceeding 70% over the past two decades.
After casting his ballot in the Bastos district near the presidential palace, Biya said, “Nothing is certain,” urging people to wait for the results to know who the winner will be.
Cameroonian political analyst Stéphane Akwa told Agence France-Presse, “Let’s not be naïve — we know very well that the ruling system has many means of ensuring results in its favor.”
On Tuesday, Biya, who had not appeared publicly since May, seemed in good health as he attended a campaign rally in Maroua, a strategic northern city with more than 1.2 million voters — the second-largest voting bloc in the country.
His public appearance came as his opponents stepped up their campaigns, pledging to turn the page on the long and authoritarian rule of Cameroon’s second president since its independence from France in 1960.
The only world leader who has ruled longer than Biya is his neighbor, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea.
Although Cameroon is officially a multi-party democracy, the opposition, civil society, and freedom of expression and the press face severe restrictions.
The results are expected about two weeks after the vote, with the winner being the candidate who receives the highest number of votes.
According to official results, Biya won 71% of the votes in the 2018 presidential election, while his closest rival received 14%.