Appendix V
Statement of James E. Tierney
Delegation Co-Leader
Clarifying Post-Election Press Coverage
Yaoundé, Cameroon
October 15, 1992
The co-leader of the international observer team to last Sunday's presidential election, James E. Tierney of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), today stated that the front page headlines in both editions of the Cameroon Tribune of October 15 “ seriously distorted” the real meaning of the preliminary Post Election Statement issued October 14 by the entire observer team.
"The NDI statement repeatedly characterized last Sunday's election as having a 'number of serious problems,'" said Tierney, a former Attorney General of the State of Maine (U.S.). “It is important for the people of Cameroon to know that NDI is continuing more to gather detailed data on the ongoing process as we prepare for our final report."
"The headlines in both editions of the Cameroon Tribune state that the NDI election delegation was "satisfied" with the conduct of the presidential election. That is not true. The article in the French language edition also implies that the NDI delegation formed opinions as to the accuracy of the voting results that have been released up this time. That is also not true. NDI has yet to formulate any conclusions as to the vote counting procedures or the results and will not do so until the issuance of the final report."
"I ask the Cameroonian media to print the entire text of the NDI statement, a copy of which is attached, without editing so that the people of Cameroon will be able to read for themselves the preliminary results of our observation efforts. ”