Opposition cries foul in Cameroon parliament polls

YAOUNDE, July 22 (Reuters) Cameroon held parliamentary polls today but few voters turned out and the opposition denounced what it called widespread fraud, including polling stations in private homes and a lack of opposition ballot papers.

The polls are expected to strengthen President Paul Biya's 25-year grip on power in the central African country, but the opposition has already said the vote is rigged, international observers are boycotting it and few voters have registered.

Hours after booths opened there were no queues to be seen at most polling stations in the capital Yaounde.

A Reuters correspondent saw voting taking place in the private Yaounde home of a local chief, in contravention of electoral laws, while some opposition supporters said they had been refused ballot papers.

Ink marking the fingers of those who had already voted - which was supposed to be indelible - was easily washed off, meaning people could vote several times, the opposition said.

''These are all indications that the election is being rigged already,'' John Fru Ndi, chairman of the main opposition SDF party, told Reuters.

He said he had reports from other parts of the country that opposition polling officers had been chased from polling stations and that SDF ballot papers were missing in some booths.

Officials from Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) were not immediately available for comment while election officials said the low turnout was because it was Sunday.

''I think for now most people have gone to church and will only come to vote after church services,'' one polling station official said, asking not to be named.

With many disillusioned Cameroonians convinced the CPDM will romp to victory, just 5 million of Cameroon's 18 million population have registered to vote -- well below the 8 million voters needed to make the elections credible, diplomats say.

The CPDM is seeking to increase its 149 seats in the 180-member parliament, amid opposition claims the president - one of Africa's longest serving leaders - wants a landslide to push through constitutional reforms to allow him a new term.

Biya took power as the hand-picked successor of ex-President Ahmadou Ahidjo in 1982. He introduced multiparty elections in 1992 and reformed the constitution in 1996 to limit the presidential mandate to a maximum of two terms, extending each period to seven years.

With his second term due to expire in 2011, the opposition has said it can not afford to boycott Sunday's polls for fear he will change the constitution again and run for a third term.

Opposition parties have denounced the multiple registration of voters and the appearance of dead or under-aged people on the electoral roll, plus the CPDM's monopoly over the state media.

Opinion polls have been banned and the media prohibited from publishing results from individual polling stations. International observers boycotted the polls after the government ignored their calls to create an independent electoral watchdog.

REUTERS SM BD1708