David Bogninou spoke on the impacts of the reform of the party system on political life in Benin. Guest on the show Questions Actuelles on CAPP FM radio, the political actor believes that the reform initiated by the President of the Republic, Patrice Talon, came to clarify the Beninese political landscape. It has changed a lot of things even if he wants an amendment to be made to increase the loyalty of activists.
According to David Bogninou, the reform of the party system corrected the flaws created by the full multiparty system established with the era of democratic renewal. To believe it, there are no longer any electoral clubs in Benin as in the recent past where more than 200 political parties are counted. “Thanks to this reform, political parties are autonomous and independent. There are no more powerful owners of political parties today and no one has the land title, even the president », he asserts. So many positive points since political blackmail is almost a thing of the past, thinks the political actor. « Avant, when you have the money it's over, you decide everything. Today, money is no longer the main positioning factor but it is done on political merit. Avant, the party leader can stay in his room and impose whoever he wants on a candidate list. As well, Was it enough for someone to be elected district chief?, mayor or deputy to start by taunting others” argues this founding member of the Union Progressivee le Renouveau party (UP-R). “Today when you are young and you work in the field, your promotion will be necessary. We had proof of this with the Legislatives of 08 January 2023 » indique-t-il avant de poursuivre « Les autres positifs aspects sont relatifs au quota de femmes fixés pour siéger à l’Assemblée nationale. From now on, parliament will have a minimum threshold of 22 %. Political parties benefit from public funding from the state. The other advantage is that today, political party activists are forced to stay in the parties even if they have grievances against their leaders”.
The situation which prevails within the BR with the cold between the former deputy Rachidi Gbadamassi and the National Secretary General Abdoulaye Bio Tchané says a lot. If it was before, « il (Gadamassi) would have already resigned to create his own movement or political party but you will notice that he criticizes but is still within the party. And I am sure that BR is finding solutions to its problem. This is one of the advantages of the partisan system that Benin has adopted”.
Possible arrangements
For him, we must give more strength to political parties. This involves a development proposal that he explains : “When a mayor or local elected official leaves a political party in full mandate, he must be automatically replaced by another member of the same party” says David Bogninou. “He must lose his mandate because he did not position himself on the list to go to the elections but he is chosen by a party. This is the party he represents,” he explains..
He ended the show by saluting the leadership of his mentor Justin Agbodjeté, native of Gbéko like him and deputy of the 9th legislature. Another nod is sent to the president of the Progressive Union Renewal, Joseph Djogbénou and the head of state, great architect of the reform of the partisan system in Benin.
Arnaud ACAKPO (Coll)