Constitutionally-mandated terms of the President and National Assembly will end in 1997. The President has the option of calling earlier elections, however. An election schedule for the new Senate and regional councils has yet to be determined. While Cameroon has a number of independent newspapers and the government tolerates some criticism, it continues to censor and sometimes seize or suspend papers. Although a 1990 law authorizes private radio and television stations, the government has not granted any licenses as of January 1996.
Opposition parties receive only limited access to government media.
The U.S. Government expressed its concern over the Cameroon Government's intimidation of the press in September 1995. Ethnic strife and widespread banditry in the Far North Province led to a number of violent confrontations with government security forces in 1994 but these eased in 1995. Incidents of road banditry continue in the Far North. Oil production declined, and the government increased borrowing abroad to compensate. This created large current and capital account deficits, loss of international competitiveness, and sharp declines in investment.