Cameroon election: Opposition claims victory as result awaits council

Cameroonians went to the polls on October 12 in a presidential election that pits 92 year old incumbent Paul Biya against a field of challengers, and on Tuesday opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary declared victory based on tallies his camp says were collected from polling stations and diaspora voters. National authorities rejected the unilateral claim and said only the Constitutional Council can proclaim a winner; the council must deliver an official outcome within 15 days of the vote, by October 26.

Biya, who has led Cameroon since 1982 and is seeking an eighth term, voted in the capital Yaounde and did not comment on the outcome. Bakary, a former minister who resigned from government this year and built a coalition of opposition parties and civic groups, said in a video posted after voting that "our victory is clear. It must be respected." His campaign drew large crowds in several regions and, according to provisional tallies circulated by local electoral committees, made early gains in Yaounde commune results and in many embassy ballots, with the exception of Moscow.

Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji dismissed Bakary's announcement and warned that...