Political rivals since the nation's first multiparty presidential election in 1992, the founder and long-standing leader of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), John Fru Ndi, and the president, Paul Biya, met during Mr Biya's recent visit to the anglophone North West region, sparking rumours of a unity government. The regime hailed the meeting as a sign of the maturing and tolerant nature of Cameroon's democracy, and local media portrayed the opening of a dialogue as a historic moment in the country's democratic development. This image was further confirmed when, also for the first time, Mr Fru Ndi was invited to the presidential palace for the annual ceremony at which the country's political elites and foreign representatives greet the president.

During the meeting Mr Fru Ndi reportedly handed the president an 11-point memo, which is suspected to have been his 11 conditions for participation in the presidential election scheduled for late 2011 (November 2010, The political scene). Although the SDF may not pose an electoral threat to Mr Biya or his ruling party, Rassemblement démocratique du peuple camerounais (RDPC), the president's visit to the region and the two leaders' first-ever face-to-face meeting may indicate that the regime felt threatened by the SDF's proposed election boycott and the potential political alienation of the anglophone region. So far, the SDF's conditional boycott has not been met with much enthusiasm by some party members and has led to several high-profile members deserting the party (December 2010, The political scene). However, some of the SDF's election complaints have been seen by the Supreme Court and have generated small changes.

Mr Fru Ndi has been accused of being co-opted by the regime in the past. During the last presidential election, in 2004, local groups accused Mr Fru Ndi of accepting bribes from the ruling regime to disrupt the dynamism of the opposition. The recent meeting has been viewed by other opposition parties as a sign of Mr Fru Ndi's weakness. However, within days of their meeting Mr Fru Ndi again criticised the national election commission, Elecam, and threatened to organise nationwide demonstrations if the commission was not reformed. Although this was a somewhat vacuous threat from a politician whose support base is largely confined to his home region, it appears to rule out any possibility that the SDF has been bought out and bodes well for the continuation of discourse on the country's weak democratic institutions.