Discursive Construction of Power, Identity, and National Future in the 2025 Cameroonian Presidential Election Campaigns: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Candidate Manifestos and Political Rhetoric

Abstract

The 2025 presidential election in Cameroon unfolded against a backdrop of significant socio-political tension, economic disparity, and ongoing debates over national cohesion, particularly concerning the Anglophone crisis. This article thus employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine how the major candidates in the October 2025 election discursively constructed power, national identity, and the vision for Cameroon’s future. Through an analysis of manifestos, campaign rhetoric, and political statements, particularly those of incumbent Paul Biya, opposition leaders Joshua Osih, disqualified candidate Maurice Kamto (analyzed as a discursive participant), and youth aspirant Hiram Iyodi, this study identifies three dominant discursive strategies. The incumbent used a ‘guardianship discourse;’ framing power as a stabilizing force based on continuity and peace. The opposition employed ‘rupture and reform’ narratives, using federalism and anti-corruption as signifiers of a new national identity. A third, emergent discourse centered on ‘youthful sovereignty,’ sought to challenge the gerontocratic status quo by reframing governance through the lens of generational justice and economic decolonization. The findings suggest that the 2025 campaigns represent a critical moment where the “politics of the belly” (neopatrimonialism) is discursively contested by emerging liberal and radical sovereigntist ideologies.