{"id":8928,"date":"2016-02-01T15:34:53","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T15:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/?page_id=8928"},"modified":"2020-03-04T18:02:48","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T18:02:48","slug":"benin-expert-briefing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/","title":{"rendered":"Benin &#8211; Expert Briefing"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><em>Benin is a <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cour-constitutionnelle-benin.org\/lacourpresent\/decrets\/Constitution.pdf\"><em>presidential republic<\/em><\/a><em> in which the president is the head of state and government <\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Although the constitution does not provide for the post of prime minister, Benin has had three prime ministers \u2013Adrien Houngb\u00e9dji (1996-1998), Ir\u00e9n\u00e9e Pascal Koupaki (2011-2013), and Lionel Zinsou (2015 &#8211; present). The legality of their appointment was decided by the <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cour-constitutionnelle-benin.org\/doss_decisions\/960420.pdf\"><em>Constitutional Court\u2019s decision DCC 96-020 of 26 April 1996<\/em><\/a><em>, which states that the president can appoint his ministers and confer on one of them the title of prime minister<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Benin became a multiparty democracy after the February 1990 National Conference<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Elections are held every five years, with presidents limited to two terms in office<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Benin has a unicameral parliament. Following the 26 April 2015 legislative election, the ruling party Les Forces Cauris Pour un Benin Emergent (FCBE) holds <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cour-constitutionnelle-benin.org\/dminutes\/cmunike6.pdf\"><em>33 of the 83 seats in parliament<\/em><\/a><em>. The remaining 50 seats are divided among opposition groups, most notably: Union fait la Nation &#8211; 13 seats, Parti du Renouveau Democratique (PRD) &#8211; 10 seats, and Alliance Renaissance du Benin-Reveil Patriotique &#8211; 7 seats<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for 28 February 2016, and the second round for 13 March 2016<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Follow the election on Twitter using the hashtags <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/vote229?src=hash\">#Vote229<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/B%C3%A9nin?src=hash\">#Benin<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"message-box-wrapper not ugly\">\n<div class=\"message-box-title\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"message-box-content\">\n<p>[audiomack src=&#8221;http:\/\/www.audiomack.com\/song\/yovanka\/interview-with-founder-of-think-tank-wathi-gilles-yabi&#8221;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode-list \">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">You can find Gilles Yabi\u00a0tweeting\u00a0<a class=\"ProfileHeaderCard-screennameLink u-linkComplex js-nav\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YabiGilles\">@<span class=\"u-linkComplex-target\">YabiGilles<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Visit \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wathi.org\/\">The West Africa Citizen Think Tank (WATHI)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Between 1960 and 1972, a succession of military coups in Benin saw power change hands ten times. This period of instability was brought to an end on 26 October 1972 when Major Mathieu K\u00e9r\u00e9kou seized power. He established a military dictatorship, which in 1975 became a one-party state based on strict Marxist-Leninist principles. He, along with his <em>Parti de la r\u00e9volution populaire b\u00e9ninoise <\/em>(PRPB), remained in power until 1991.<\/p>\n<p>K\u00e9r\u00e9kou\u2019s grip on power showed signs of weakening from the mid-1980s as growing civil unrest and student riots emerged. In response, worried about his declining power, K\u00e9r\u00e9kou introduced several socio-economic and political reforms. Most significantly, in February 1990 he abandoned one-party rule and convened a National Conference that would eventually commit Benin to multiparty democracy. A new constitution, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lebeninautrementgouverne.org\/?page_id=943\">ratified by 96.9% of voters in a popular referendum<\/a>, was adopted on 10 December 1990. It set out the provisions for presidential and legislative elections.<\/p>\n<p>Benin\u2019s first democratic presidential election took place in March 1991. K\u00e9r\u00e9kou lost to Nic\u00e9phore Dieudonn\u00e9 Soglo who took <a href=\"http:\/\/perspective.usherbrooke.ca\/bilan\/servlet\/BMElection?codePays=BEN&amp;dateElection=BEN1991310&amp;codeInstitution=3\">67.5% of the vote cast in the second round<\/a> to become the country\u2019s first democratically elected president. But K\u00e9r\u00e9kou stayed in politics and five years later was elected president, remaining in power for two consecutive terms. In the 1999 and the 2003 legislative elections he was supported by a coalition of parties. The coalition won 41 of the 83 seats in parliament in 1999, and increased its dominance of the legislature in 2003, winning 54 seats, 31 of which were won by K\u00e9r\u00e9kou\u2019s own party <em>l\u2019Union pour le B\u00e9nin du Futur (UBF)<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Speculation that K\u00e9r\u00e9kou would seek to change the constitution ahead of the 2006 election to allow him a third term in office proved to be unfounded. The 2006 presidential election saw Yayi Boni, an independent candidate supported by a number of small parties, become Benin\u2019s third democratically elected president. In 2011, Yayi Boni was re-elected with 53% of the vote, winning without the need for a run-off for the first time in Benin\u2019s democratic history. Despite formal complaints about the process from opposing candidates Adrien Houngb\u00e9dji and Abdoulaye Bio Tchan\u00e9, Benin\u2019s Constitutional Court upheld and certified the election results.<\/p>\n<p>Since the 2011 vote, several electoral reforms have been implemented to further improve the process. A new electoral code was adopted on 25 November 2013 and the <em>Commission \u00c9lectorale Nationale Autonome<\/em> (CENA) was made a permanent institution.<\/p>\n<p>In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election reports persisted that Yayi Boni would seek to amend the constitution and stand for a third term. These rumours adversely affected his party\u2019s performance in the 2015 legislative elections. The FCBE performed poorly in urban strongholds, losing its absolute majority in parliament: it now holds 33 seats, a decrease from 41 in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the legislative vote, Yayi Boni formally declared his intention to stand down in the face of public and internal party pressure. On 26 November 2015 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.issafrica.org\/iss-today\/will-benin-get-another-international-president-in-2016\">he announced his chosen successor<\/a>, the current prime minister, Lionel Zinsou. A Franco-Beninese whose career includes spells as an advisor to former French prime minister Laurent Fabius, as an investment banker at Rothschild, and as head of PAI Partners in Paris. Zinsou\u2019s designation as the FCBE\u2019s presidential candidate is a potentially divisive choice. He retains strong links with France, but leading opposition parties, the PRD and <em>Renaissance du B\u00e9nin<\/em> (RB), have since expressed support for him as the \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-benin-politics-idUSKCN0V80UE\">consensus candidate\u201d.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The 2016 presidential elections will see Benin elect its fourth president. In the absence of traditional heavyweights, and with the incumbent standing down, there is uncertainty as to who will emerge victorious. Competing against Zinsou will be another former prime minister Pascal Ir\u00e9n\u00e9e Koupaki, former presidential candidate Abdoulaye Bio Tchan\u00e9 and businessman Patrice Talon who financed Yayi Boni\u2019s election campaigns in 2006 and 2011. A close race is predicted, the result of which may prove to be an important test for democratic consolidation in Benin.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Ella Abatan is a <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>Junior Fellow at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Dakar, Senegal<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Benin is a presidential republic in which the president is the head of state and government Although the constitution does not provide for the post of prime minister, Benin has had three prime ministers \u2013Adrien Houngb\u00e9dji (1996-1998), Ir\u00e9n\u00e9e Pascal Koupaki (2011-2013), and Lionel Zinsou (2015 &#8211; present). The legality of their appointment was decided by the Constitutional Court\u2019s decision DCC 96-020 of 26 April 1996, which states that the president can appoint his ministers and confer on one of them the title of prime minister Benin became a multiparty democracy after the February 1990 National Conference Elections are held every five years, with presidents limited to two terms in office Benin has a unicameral parliament. Following the 26 April 2015 legislative election, the ruling party Les Forces Cauris Pour un Benin Emergent (FCBE) holds 33 of the 83 seats in parliament. The remaining 50 seats are divided among opposition groups, most notably: Union fait la Nation &#8211; 13 seats, Parti du Renouveau Democratique (PRD) &#8211; 10 seats, and Alliance Renaissance du Benin-Reveil Patriotique &#8211; 7 seats The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for 28 February 2016, and the second round for 13 March 2016 Follow the election on Twitter using the hashtags #Vote229, #Benin Between 1960 and 1972, a succession of military coups in Benin saw power change hands ten times. This period of instability was brought to an end on 26 October 1972 when Major Mathieu K\u00e9r\u00e9kou seized power. He established a military dictatorship, which in 1975 became a one-party state based on strict Marxist-Leninist principles. He, along with his Parti de la r\u00e9volution populaire b\u00e9ninoise (PRPB), remained in power until 1991. K\u00e9r\u00e9kou\u2019s grip on power showed signs of weakening from the mid-1980s as growing civil unrest and student riots emerged. In response, worried about his declining power, K\u00e9r\u00e9kou introduced several socio-economic and political reforms. Most significantly, in February 1990 he abandoned one-party rule and convened a National Conference that would eventually commit Benin to multiparty democracy. A new constitution, ratified by 96.9% of voters in a popular referendum, was adopted on 10 December 1990. It set out the provisions for presidential and legislative elections. Benin\u2019s first democratic presidential election took place in March 1991. K\u00e9r\u00e9kou lost to Nic\u00e9phore Dieudonn\u00e9 Soglo who took 67.5% of the vote cast in the second round to become the country\u2019s first democratically elected president. But K\u00e9r\u00e9kou stayed in politics and five years later was elected president, remaining in power for two consecutive terms. In the 1999 and the 2003 legislative elections he was supported by a coalition of parties. The coalition won 41 of the 83 seats in parliament in 1999, and increased its dominance of the legislature in 2003, winning 54 seats, 31 of which were won by K\u00e9r\u00e9kou\u2019s own party l\u2019Union pour le B\u00e9nin du Futur (UBF). Speculation that K\u00e9r\u00e9kou would seek to change the constitution ahead of the 2006 election to allow him a third term in office proved to be unfounded. The 2006 presidential election saw Yayi Boni, an independent candidate supported by a number of small parties, become Benin\u2019s third democratically elected president. In 2011, Yayi Boni was re-elected with 53% of the vote, winning without the need for a run-off for the first time in Benin\u2019s democratic history. Despite formal complaints about the process from opposing candidates Adrien Houngb\u00e9dji and Abdoulaye Bio Tchan\u00e9, Benin\u2019s Constitutional Court upheld and certified the election results. Since the 2011 vote, several electoral reforms have been implemented to further improve the process. A new electoral code was adopted on 25 November 2013 and the Commission \u00c9lectorale Nationale Autonome (CENA) was made a permanent institution. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election reports persisted that Yayi Boni would seek to amend the constitution and stand for a third term. These rumours adversely affected his party\u2019s performance in the 2015 legislative elections. The FCBE performed poorly in urban strongholds, losing its absolute majority in parliament: it now holds 33 seats, a decrease from 41 in 2011. Shortly after the legislative vote, Yayi Boni formally declared his intention to stand down in the face of public and internal party pressure. On 26 November 2015 he announced his chosen successor, the current prime minister, Lionel Zinsou. A Franco-Beninese whose career includes spells as an advisor to former French prime minister Laurent Fabius, as an investment banker at Rothschild, and as head of PAI Partners in Paris. Zinsou\u2019s designation as the FCBE\u2019s presidential candidate is a potentially divisive choice. He retains strong links with France, but leading opposition parties, the PRD and Renaissance du B\u00e9nin (RB), have since expressed support for him as the \u201cconsensus candidate\u201d. The 2016 presidential elections will see Benin elect its fourth president. In the absence of traditional heavyweights, and with the incumbent standing down, there is uncertainty as to who will emerge victorious. Competing against Zinsou will be another former prime minister Pascal Ir\u00e9n\u00e9e Koupaki, former presidential candidate Abdoulaye Bio Tchan\u00e9 and businessman Patrice Talon who financed Yayi Boni\u2019s election campaigns in 2006 and 2011. A close race is predicted, the result of which may prove to be an important test for democratic consolidation in Benin. Ella Abatan is a Junior Fellow at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Dakar, Senegal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8928","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Benin - Expert Briefing - Africa Research Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Benin - Expert Briefing - Africa Research Institute\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Benin is a presidential republic in which the president is the head of state and government Although the constitution does not provide for the post of prime minister, Benin has had three prime ministers \u2013Adrien Houngb\u00e9dji (1996-1998), Ir\u00e9n\u00e9e Pascal Koupaki (2011-2013), and Lionel Zinsou (2015 &#8211; present). The legality of their appointment was decided by the Constitutional Court\u2019s decision DCC 96-020 of 26 April 1996, which states that the president can appoint his ministers and confer on one of them the title of prime minister Benin became a multiparty democracy after the February 1990 National Conference Elections are held every five years, with presidents limited to two terms in office Benin has a unicameral parliament. Following the 26 April 2015 legislative election, the ruling party Les Forces Cauris Pour un Benin Emergent (FCBE) holds 33 of the 83 seats in parliament. The remaining 50 seats are divided among opposition groups, most notably: Union fait la Nation &#8211; 13 seats, Parti du Renouveau Democratique (PRD) &#8211; 10 seats, and Alliance Renaissance du Benin-Reveil Patriotique &#8211; 7 seats The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for 28 February 2016, and the second round for 13 March 2016 Follow the election on Twitter using the hashtags #Vote229, #Benin Between 1960 and 1972, a succession of military coups in Benin saw power change hands ten times. This period of instability was brought to an end on 26 October 1972 when Major Mathieu K\u00e9r\u00e9kou seized power. He established a military dictatorship, which in 1975 became a one-party state based on strict Marxist-Leninist principles. He, along with his Parti de la r\u00e9volution populaire b\u00e9ninoise (PRPB), remained in power until 1991. K\u00e9r\u00e9kou\u2019s grip on power showed signs of weakening from the mid-1980s as growing civil unrest and student riots emerged. In response, worried about his declining power, K\u00e9r\u00e9kou introduced several socio-economic and political reforms. Most significantly, in February 1990 he abandoned one-party rule and convened a National Conference that would eventually commit Benin to multiparty democracy. A new constitution, ratified by 96.9% of voters in a popular referendum, was adopted on 10 December 1990. It set out the provisions for presidential and legislative elections. Benin\u2019s first democratic presidential election took place in March 1991. K\u00e9r\u00e9kou lost to Nic\u00e9phore Dieudonn\u00e9 Soglo who took 67.5% of the vote cast in the second round to become the country\u2019s first democratically elected president. But K\u00e9r\u00e9kou stayed in politics and five years later was elected president, remaining in power for two consecutive terms. In the 1999 and the 2003 legislative elections he was supported by a coalition of parties. The coalition won 41 of the 83 seats in parliament in 1999, and increased its dominance of the legislature in 2003, winning 54 seats, 31 of which were won by K\u00e9r\u00e9kou\u2019s own party l\u2019Union pour le B\u00e9nin du Futur (UBF). Speculation that K\u00e9r\u00e9kou would seek to change the constitution ahead of the 2006 election to allow him a third term in office proved to be unfounded. The 2006 presidential election saw Yayi Boni, an independent candidate supported by a number of small parties, become Benin\u2019s third democratically elected president. In 2011, Yayi Boni was re-elected with 53% of the vote, winning without the need for a run-off for the first time in Benin\u2019s democratic history. Despite formal complaints about the process from opposing candidates Adrien Houngb\u00e9dji and Abdoulaye Bio Tchan\u00e9, Benin\u2019s Constitutional Court upheld and certified the election results. Since the 2011 vote, several electoral reforms have been implemented to further improve the process. A new electoral code was adopted on 25 November 2013 and the Commission \u00c9lectorale Nationale Autonome (CENA) was made a permanent institution. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election reports persisted that Yayi Boni would seek to amend the constitution and stand for a third term. These rumours adversely affected his party\u2019s performance in the 2015 legislative elections. The FCBE performed poorly in urban strongholds, losing its absolute majority in parliament: it now holds 33 seats, a decrease from 41 in 2011. Shortly after the legislative vote, Yayi Boni formally declared his intention to stand down in the face of public and internal party pressure. On 26 November 2015 he announced his chosen successor, the current prime minister, Lionel Zinsou. A Franco-Beninese whose career includes spells as an advisor to former French prime minister Laurent Fabius, as an investment banker at Rothschild, and as head of PAI Partners in Paris. Zinsou\u2019s designation as the FCBE\u2019s presidential candidate is a potentially divisive choice. He retains strong links with France, but leading opposition parties, the PRD and Renaissance du B\u00e9nin (RB), have since expressed support for him as the \u201cconsensus candidate\u201d. The 2016 presidential elections will see Benin elect its fourth president. In the absence of traditional heavyweights, and with the incumbent standing down, there is uncertainty as to who will emerge victorious. Competing against Zinsou will be another former prime minister Pascal Ir\u00e9n\u00e9e Koupaki, former presidential candidate Abdoulaye Bio Tchan\u00e9 and businessman Patrice Talon who financed Yayi Boni\u2019s election campaigns in 2006 and 2011. A close race is predicted, the result of which may prove to be an important test for democratic consolidation in Benin. Ella Abatan is a Junior Fellow at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Dakar, Senegal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AfricaResearch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/\",\"name\":\"Benin - Expert Briefing - Africa Research Institute\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-01T15:34:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-04T18:02:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Benin &#8211; Expert Briefing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Research Institute\",\"description\":\"Building on the Dynamism in Africa Today\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Benin - Expert Briefing - Africa Research Institute","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Benin - Expert Briefing - Africa Research Institute","twitter_description":"Benin is a presidential republic in which the president is the head of state and government Although the constitution does not provide for the post of prime minister, Benin has had three prime ministers \u2013Adrien Houngb\u00e9dji (1996-1998), Ir\u00e9n\u00e9e Pascal Koupaki (2011-2013), and Lionel Zinsou (2015 &#8211; present). The legality of their appointment was decided by the Constitutional Court\u2019s decision DCC 96-020 of 26 April 1996, which states that the president can appoint his ministers and confer on one of them the title of prime minister Benin became a multiparty democracy after the February 1990 National Conference Elections are held every five years, with presidents limited to two terms in office Benin has a unicameral parliament. Following the 26 April 2015 legislative election, the ruling party Les Forces Cauris Pour un Benin Emergent (FCBE) holds 33 of the 83 seats in parliament. The remaining 50 seats are divided among opposition groups, most notably: Union fait la Nation &#8211; 13 seats, Parti du Renouveau Democratique (PRD) &#8211; 10 seats, and Alliance Renaissance du Benin-Reveil Patriotique &#8211; 7 seats The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for 28 February 2016, and the second round for 13 March 2016 Follow the election on Twitter using the hashtags #Vote229, #Benin Between 1960 and 1972, a succession of military coups in Benin saw power change hands ten times. This period of instability was brought to an end on 26 October 1972 when Major Mathieu K\u00e9r\u00e9kou seized power. He established a military dictatorship, which in 1975 became a one-party state based on strict Marxist-Leninist principles. He, along with his Parti de la r\u00e9volution populaire b\u00e9ninoise (PRPB), remained in power until 1991. K\u00e9r\u00e9kou\u2019s grip on power showed signs of weakening from the mid-1980s as growing civil unrest and student riots emerged. In response, worried about his declining power, K\u00e9r\u00e9kou introduced several socio-economic and political reforms. Most significantly, in February 1990 he abandoned one-party rule and convened a National Conference that would eventually commit Benin to multiparty democracy. A new constitution, ratified by 96.9% of voters in a popular referendum, was adopted on 10 December 1990. It set out the provisions for presidential and legislative elections. Benin\u2019s first democratic presidential election took place in March 1991. K\u00e9r\u00e9kou lost to Nic\u00e9phore Dieudonn\u00e9 Soglo who took 67.5% of the vote cast in the second round to become the country\u2019s first democratically elected president. But K\u00e9r\u00e9kou stayed in politics and five years later was elected president, remaining in power for two consecutive terms. In the 1999 and the 2003 legislative elections he was supported by a coalition of parties. The coalition won 41 of the 83 seats in parliament in 1999, and increased its dominance of the legislature in 2003, winning 54 seats, 31 of which were won by K\u00e9r\u00e9kou\u2019s own party l\u2019Union pour le B\u00e9nin du Futur (UBF). Speculation that K\u00e9r\u00e9kou would seek to change the constitution ahead of the 2006 election to allow him a third term in office proved to be unfounded. The 2006 presidential election saw Yayi Boni, an independent candidate supported by a number of small parties, become Benin\u2019s third democratically elected president. In 2011, Yayi Boni was re-elected with 53% of the vote, winning without the need for a run-off for the first time in Benin\u2019s democratic history. Despite formal complaints about the process from opposing candidates Adrien Houngb\u00e9dji and Abdoulaye Bio Tchan\u00e9, Benin\u2019s Constitutional Court upheld and certified the election results. Since the 2011 vote, several electoral reforms have been implemented to further improve the process. A new electoral code was adopted on 25 November 2013 and the Commission \u00c9lectorale Nationale Autonome (CENA) was made a permanent institution. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election reports persisted that Yayi Boni would seek to amend the constitution and stand for a third term. These rumours adversely affected his party\u2019s performance in the 2015 legislative elections. The FCBE performed poorly in urban strongholds, losing its absolute majority in parliament: it now holds 33 seats, a decrease from 41 in 2011. Shortly after the legislative vote, Yayi Boni formally declared his intention to stand down in the face of public and internal party pressure. On 26 November 2015 he announced his chosen successor, the current prime minister, Lionel Zinsou. A Franco-Beninese whose career includes spells as an advisor to former French prime minister Laurent Fabius, as an investment banker at Rothschild, and as head of PAI Partners in Paris. Zinsou\u2019s designation as the FCBE\u2019s presidential candidate is a potentially divisive choice. He retains strong links with France, but leading opposition parties, the PRD and Renaissance du B\u00e9nin (RB), have since expressed support for him as the \u201cconsensus candidate\u201d. The 2016 presidential elections will see Benin elect its fourth president. In the absence of traditional heavyweights, and with the incumbent standing down, there is uncertainty as to who will emerge victorious. Competing against Zinsou will be another former prime minister Pascal Ir\u00e9n\u00e9e Koupaki, former presidential candidate Abdoulaye Bio Tchan\u00e9 and businessman Patrice Talon who financed Yayi Boni\u2019s election campaigns in 2006 and 2011. A close race is predicted, the result of which may prove to be an important test for democratic consolidation in Benin. Ella Abatan is a Junior Fellow at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Dakar, Senegal","twitter_site":"@AfricaResearch","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/","url":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/","name":"Benin - Expert Briefing - Africa Research Institute","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-01T15:34:53+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-04T18:02:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/benin-expert-briefing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Benin &#8211; Expert Briefing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/","name":"Africa Research Institute","description":"Building on the Dynamism in Africa Today","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8928"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13014,"href":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8928\/revisions\/13014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africaresearchinstitute.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}