ELECTING OR APPOINTING A SC INTERIM PM - The Stakes at Hand by

ELECTING OR APPOINTING A SC INTERIM PM - The Stakes at Hand.
(long but very very interesting to read please).
Cameroon Journal, Washington D.C – It has been quite agonizing in the past one week listening to distressful and disenchanted voices of lamentation from the ground in Cameroon unveiling a sense of hopelessness and frustration with the way the struggle is going right now. While some have want to throw in the towel, others are yearning for immediate action on the ground, the kind of action that will reinvigorate momentum in the masses.
On social media, fingers are being pointed at SCACUF for not acting in a swift way in the face of such rising frustrations on the ground. Many people appear very resentful at the pace with which SCACUF is moving. The situation, they say is beginning to leave many supporters behind, creating room for people on the ground to start giving up hope. Some are also arguing that SCACUF is either reneging or approaching the idea of an Interim PM or Gov’t rather very slowly. Yet, there are others who are also very concerned that SCACUF may have totally ignored the idea of self-defense.
At the Cameroon Journal, we have argued previously that the idea of an Interim Gov’t remains very crucial, and very urgent. We cannot even over emphasize the importance of it. However, we have also stated that no matter how crucial and urgent the need may be, lots of premeditation and planning has to be judiciously invested in its execution to ensure that the very idea of an Interim Gov’t doesn’t end up killing the entire struggle, especially seeing that many of the leaders out there are beginning to approach this struggle more as politics instead of the revolution that it is.
A third SCACUF conclave, we have learned, is coming up at the end of this month. The main agenda on the table we are told shall be the subject of the Interim gov’t. This is a very emotional and sensitive matter, and there are wolves both from within us and without that are hovering around waiting to seize upon the least weakness in the conduct of the election process to destabilize the struggle.
We must again and again be reminded that in the struggle, there are many so-called leaders out there who are just interested in playing politics given the least opportunity. But they come across as concerned comrades, putting on sack cloth like all of us, pretending to share the same sentiments we all have, but in the innermost part of their beings, all they fight for is power and position. These are the people, the elements, the destabilizing forces that SCACUF must look out for as they meet in the next conclave to decide on the way forward in forming an Interim gov’t.
It is in the above reasons that we once more want to make the appeal loud and clear that the idea of an election for the Interim gov’t be put aside, at least for the moment. Now, do not be mistaking. We’re not asking that the idea of an Interim Gov’t be shelled, suspended or put aside. Rather, our concern is with the ELECTION component of it. We think there should be an appointment, not an election. Knowing the dangers inherent in an election whose rules are not known, and which cannot be rushed into, we do not see the reason why our senior statesmen, some of who make up the Advisory Council of SCACUF cannot be trusted for the purpose of preserving our unity by picking a leader or a president or PM who can lead a gov’t in the interim.
This is very important considering the tense atmosphere and the backroom politicking that is ongoing. Any form of election at this moment, we are afraid, may bring unnecessary scrambling in the house. And by the way, who is going to vote, how are they going to vote, where are they going to vote and under what rules are they going to vote? Did you happen to watch how shaky it was to agree on the procedure to vote for SCACUF South Africa leaders? If electing leaders for SA alone was that intriguing, what is going to happen when it comes to a national election?
Some have suggested that such an Interim PM/President should not emerge from the diaspora. That he should be somebody on the ground. Yet, we can hardly find any precedence where a leader of an opposing or revolutionary gov’t was ever based in the home front. Ours is not an opposition party, we are a nationalist movement. It will be a good idea having such an Interim leader based on the ground, that is, if the Consortium and the SCNC and others were not banned. But now that they have all been banned and all their leaders are either underground or on the run, voting for or choosing an Interim leader based at home will be panacea to disaster.
Going back to the PM or Interim Gov’t thing, we strongly support an appointment against an election – at least for now, because many organizations involved in this struggle are acting more like political parties. Their leaders grandstand, blackmail and sabotage one another. Some who have failed to use the regular channels to push their selfish agendas, have gone as far as using pen names to publish sabotage material against other groups and individuals. We are really concerned of a situation where if they do not have their way in this Interim gov’t thing, they will do everything to sabotage the struggle so that they can sit back and throw the blame at others.
SCACUF presently has an Advisory/Leadership Council made up of some of the most trusted veteran statesmen in this struggle. We think they can be trusted to step forward and appoint such a gov’t without relying on some election. The election thing is exactly where the danger lies. An election now may mar this struggle forever. And the idea that we must have some 130 delegates representing all the counties of the Southern Cameroons is equally uncalled for, at least for now.
Let’s remember we are not about a real or normal functioning cabinet and a normal functioning gov’t here. We are merely about looking for an arrangement that should lead and represent us in whatever direction we want to go. The Advisory Council could appoint the Interim PM, and then get all the member groups of SCACUF to nominate from their groups those they feel can serve in the cabinet of the PM. While the new gov’t gets to work after the exercise, the Council staying behind, should work on a draft constitution and rules for electing a future interim gov’t as the mandate of this one expires.
Having said that, Southern Cameroonians who feel like SCACUF isn’t being sensitive and addressing certain issues should be aware that LRC is very busy trying by all means to get information pertaining to what plan of action SCACUF is planning. LRC is actually penetrating our forums and groups per chance, to find out what is being planned. For these reasons, we should realize that SCACUF isn’t going to get out there announcing what it plans on executing. Let us all understand that even if SCACUF were to wage war tomorrow, it won’t go out announcing it because they do not want LRC to preempt them or thwart the plan. We hope this is the reason why SCACUF isn’t coming out to address some of the concerns that are being raised.
We have spoken with SCACUF leadership, and we want everybody to rest assured that SCACUF has plans, unfortunately, these are no normal times and they cannot go out broadcasting what such plans are. But everyone, especially in the home front can rest assured that there is an element of surprise on the way. Let’s avoid being carried away by emotions, there are plans and LRC will be surprised what is coming at them.