Beninese democracy: Progress to be consolidated

Voters headed to the polls on Sunday 8 January 2023 calmly to choose the deputies who will soon sit in Parliament. This tranquility, which seems to be natural in a democracy, must however be considered as a real step forward in view of the atmosphere of the elections which have taken place since the arrival of the current Head of State in 2016.

We remember that the polls of 2019 and of 2021 took place in an atmosphere of defiance vis-à-vis the State, which resulted in loss of life and destruction of private and public property. In some localities, the scars of this electoral violence are still visible and the real reconciliation between actors, sometimes from the same families, still to come.

Pending the continuation of the electoral process, namely the proclamation of the results, it is already a victory for the people that peace was not threatened either before or during the election. President Patrice Talon has said this many times since his re-election in 2021, he intends to work for a serene climate in the country, what requires reconciliation between political actors. In this direction, several prisoners were released and the presidents of the institutions of the Republic were called upon for talks aimed at restoring a climate of peace.

More, beyond these efforts, it is above all to the Constitutional Court that the people of Benin owe the tranquility that reigned during the campaign period and during the ballot. It was she who drafted the party The Democrats, who considers himself the greatest of the opposition. We remember that it was the exclusion and imprisonment of its candidate for the presidential election of 2021 who sparked the violence that punctuated this election. While he was again offside for lack of tax clearance for certain candidates on the party list, the Court ordered the Autonomous National Electoral Commission to allow the latter to replace the defaulting candidates.

On another side, the electoral campaign, which took place in conviviality, was marked by the debate of ideas, contrary to the habits that have finally taken hold over these three decades and which consist in distributing money. In any case, the money did not circulate openly, bags of rice and other goods were not distributed publicly, which is already a big step forward. Voters have now matured. They understood that money and material goods cannot buy their votes. "If they give, we will take but we will vote for the one we want”. Voters have repeated this phrase so often that politicians have come to understand that it is in their interest to convince with ideas..

The interest of these legislative elections which have just taken place is to restore the image of a country, once a beacon of democracy in Africa and which has seen its flame tarnish in less than a decade. More, so that the challenge is really met, the post-electoral period will have to be managed with the same openness of mind and that the results that will come out of the ballot boxes will effectively reflect the will of the voters.

Pierre MATCHOUDO