Constitutional review: End of diet syndrome

From Kérékou to Patrice Talon, the question of the revision of the constitution has become a constant of the political debate in Benin, especially during the second term.

On the occasion of his inauguration as President of Parliament on 14 avril 2021, Louis Vlavonou spoke of the need to make changes to the Constitution of the Republic of Benin, “for its constant improvement”. Asked about the relevance of this proposal, the government spokesperson affirmed that "as soon as there is assurance" that this revision does not affect the limit on the number of terms of office, there is no problem.

If for the moment the question does not arouse much debate, it has not been so in the past. The second term of President Yayi Boni who reigned from 2006 at 2016 was agitated, opponents being fiercely against the idea of ​​any changes to the constitution. Even though the then Head of State had repeatedly reassured that he had no intention of running for a third term., the opposition had continued to suspect him of bad faith. For them, it was a trick because, once the constitution is changed the counters can be legally reset, which would allow the president to seek a third term. Before Yayi Boni, President Mathieu Kérékou had also undergone the same debate, his entourage having proposed to revise the constitution.

The Constitution of 11 December 1990 and its revised version under President Talon make term limits and the age of presidents a cornerstone. This can only be skipped by opportunistic revision.. We see this in several African countries where mandates are limited to two. Constitutions have often been changed, which allows presidents to stay in power as long as they can tweak the basic law of their countries. The categorical refusal of this form of opportunism was expressed by the former president of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou. Individuals who thought to please him by calling for the revision of the constitution in order to pave the way for a third term were surprised to find themselves in prison.

In Benin, we are not there yet. The Speaker of Parliament, by proposing a "touch-up", reassured of the maintenance of the fundamentals. No constitution is perfect, especially that of several countries like Benin which is only an altered copy of Western constitutions. Alterations may therefore be made each time an imperfection is noted.. At any rate, in this second term of President Talon, this initiative risks inflaming the debates between the pros and the anti-third terms even if, as he claimed, his intention is not to skip the limit on the number of terms.

Pierre MATCHOUDO