At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Cameroon

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Paul BIYA
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Philemon YANG
• Assembly: Cameroon has a unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) with 180 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 7-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
• In the National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale), 90 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 90 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.***

*** The president can either lengthen or shorten the term of the legislature. In the PR tier, electors cast a ballot for a party list. If a list achieves an absolute majority, they win all the seats in that district. If no list obtains an absolute majority, the one with the highest number of votes is allocated half of the seats; the remainder is allocated to the other best-placed lists through proportional representation. There is a 5 percent threshold.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Paul BIYA
  • Party: Democratic Rally of the People of Cameroon (RDPC) / Rassemblement démocratique du Peuple Camerounais
• John Fru NDI
  • Party: Social Democratic Front / Front Social-Démocratique (FSD)
• Adamou Ndam NJOYA
  • Party: Cameroon Democratic Union (UDC)
• Gargan Haman ADJI
  • Party: Alliance for Democracy and Develpment (ADD)

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 20,129,878 (July 2011 )
• Registered Voters: 7,251,651 (September 2011 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 10,564,677 (2011)

·         Is Cameroon a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (6 June 1983)

·         Has Cameroon ratified CEDAW: Yes (23 August 1994)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 25 (National Assembly) (following 2007 parliamentary elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 153 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: High (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Cameroon a signatory to CRPD: Yes (1 October 2008)

·         Has Cameroon ratified CRPD: No

·         Population with a disability: 2,409,551 (est.)