Ahead of the next presidential election scheduled for October 2025, Cameroonian opposition leaders have been calling for unity. Célestin Bedzigui, president of the Parti de l’Alliance libérale (PAL), urged a “consensual candidacy” for the opposition during the second ordinary elective congress of the Parti camerounais pour la réconciliation nationale (PCRN), held May 23–24 in Nkolafamba, Centre region.

“Without a consensual candidacy, we have no chance,” said Bedzigui, also the town councillor of Monatélé in the Lekié department.

Political figures attending the congress included Joshua Osih (SDF), Pierre Kwemo (UMS), Baleguel Nkot (UPC), and Sam Mbaka of the Douala Group. Bedzigui emphasized, “All of us gathered here are not enemies. So we have to get along.” He insisted that genuine unity among opposition leaders is crucial for successful political rebuilding.

“The consensual candidate who emerges from this agreement will acquire a power that nothing can resist,” Bedzigui continued. He called for opposition figures to overcome internal divisions. “We must not persist in this balkanization which is based on nothing,” he said, referring to leadership disputes that have weakened coalition efforts in Cameroon.

In a symbolic and strategic gesture, Bedzigui proposed his residence on the banks of the Sanaga River in Monatélé as a venue for future discussions on a single candidacy. He recalled that President Paul Biya was anointed on the Sanaga’s banks in 1992, during Cameroon’s first multiparty elections, and suggested the site could mark a new beginning for the country.

Source: Business in Cameroon