Legislative in Benin: the opposition returns to Parliament with 28 seats won

The Beninese opposition returns to Parliament by winning 28 seats out of 109 in the legislative elections, a first under President Patrice Talon after four years of absence, according to the provisional results given this Wednesday, January 11 by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (Cena) .

According to Cena, the main opposition party The Democrats won 28 seats while the Progressive Union for Renewal (UP-R) and the Republican Bloc (BR), parties of the presidential movement, respectively obtained 53 seats. and 28 seats.

The final results of the legislative elections organized on Sunday are expected on Friday.

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A model of democracy put to the test

These elections served as a key test for the small West African country, once seen as a model of democracy, where President Talon has promoted economic development, according to his supporters, but at the cost of democratic backsliding. according to the opposition.

The main opposition figures are now either behind bars or in exile.

The last legislative elections organized in 2019 were marked by deadly violence, record abstention and a total shutdown of the internet, extremely rare events in Benin.

The opposition was unable to participate in the elections due to a tightening of the voting rules.

Only two formations of the presidential movement had been authorized to compete, giving rise to a Parliament entirely won over to President Talon.

Read alsoPatrice Talon, an illiberal in Benin

New distribution

This time, seven political parties, including three claiming to be opposition, were allowed to participate.

In accordance with the proportional system, only the UP-R, the BR and the Democrats share the seats, having each won more than 10% of the vote.

At the end of a peaceful campaign, some 6.6 million voters were called upon to appoint the 109 deputies, including at least 24 women - at least one per constituency - according to the new Electoral Code.

In addition to the final number of women elected MPs, abstention will also be an important factor;

it had exceeded 70% in 2019, a record.

Activists and Reformers

Elected in 2016, re-elected in 2021, the wealthy businessman Patrice Talon has launched all-out political and economic reforms with a view to putting his country on the path to development.

But this modernization has also been accompanied by a significant democratic decline, according to the opposition.

Two of Mr. Talon's main opponents - the constitutionalist Joël Aïvo and the former Minister of Justice Reckya Madougou - are still imprisoned, sentenced to heavy sentences.

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