1.12 Media legislation evolves from meaningful consultations among state institutions, citizens and interest groups. Generally the Cameroon government works with “shadowy consultants” to formulate legislation. Even so, the opinions of such consultants may not be taken into consideration. All drafts end up at the presidency, where they are ‘reviewed’. The public is of the general impression that the government often knows exactly what it wants to achieve before it sets out to formulate new legislation, and that consultations only work to achieve a pre-set goal. At all stages, there is absolutely no consultation with citizens or interest groups. In rare cases – such as the selection of officials to the country’s electoral organs (i.e. the National Elections Observatory (now defunct) and the present Elections Cameroon [ELECAM]) – the government consulted political parties and civil society groups. They all complained, however, that the final outcome did not reflect their opinions. A similar public outcry was heard after the so called ‘public consultation’, ahead of the adoption of the 1996 constitution that endorsed the removal of the term limit for the post of President of the Republic of Cameroon. Scores: Individual scores: 76 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 1.3 (2008 = n/a) Average score for sector 1: 2.6 (2008 = 2.2) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER CAMEROON 2011