Benin’s Constitutional Court confirmed Wednesday that pro-government parties have won the majority of seats in the national Parliament, following last Sunday’s elections.
The courts have ratified the preliminary results of the electoral authority which indicated that the parties allied to President Patrice Talon, the Republican Bloc and the Progressive Union for Renewal, have won 81 seats, out of a total of 109 seats.
On the other hand, the Beninese opposition, the Les Democrates party, has returned to Parliament with 28 seats, after several years of absence.
The participation of the Democrats (LD), led by former president Boni Yayi, in the elections of January 8 was up in the air until the last moment due to the fact that the Electoral Commission warned that the party lacked the tax certificates it had been asked for in order to participate.
However, a subsequent successful appeal to the Constitutional Court gave the Democrats permission to run in the legislative elections, and they are now the third largest political force with the most seats in the country.
More than 6.5 million voters cast their ballots on Sunday in an election where representatives of seven political parties, four from the presidential movement and three from the opposition, ran for the 109 seats in the National Assembly in the 24 constituencies under the watchful eye of a mission of 40 observers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
President Talon is keeping two major opponents of the LD, former minister Reckya Madougou and constitutionalist Joël Aïvo, imprisoned by order of a special anti-terrorist court, harshly criticized by the opposition which considers the court as an instrument purely at the service of the president.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
