GOVERNMENT
Post-Independence
Politics
Between 1960 and 1972, a succession of military coups brought about many changes
of government. The last of these brought to power Major Mathieu Kerekou as the
head of a regime professing strict Marxist-Leninist principles. The
Revolutionary Party of the People of Benin (PRPB) remained in complete power
until the beginning of the 1990s. Kerekou, encouraged by France and other
democratic powers, convened a national conference that introduced a new
democratic constitution and held presidential and legislative elections.
Kerekou's principal opponent at the 1991 presidential poll, and the ultimate
victor, was Prime Minister Nicephore Soglo. Supporters of Soglo also secured a
majority in the National Assembly. In the 1996 presidential poll Kerekou
defeated Soglo, and was reelected in 2001. At the end of his second term in
2006, Kerekou successfully handed power over to Boni Yayi, elected with 75% of
the votes cast.
In December
2002, Benin held its first municipal elections since before the
institution of Marxism-Leninism. The process was smooth with the
significant exception of the 12th district council for Cotonou,
the contest that would ultimately determine who would be selected
for the mayoralty of the capital city. That vote was marred by
irregularities, and the electoral commission was forced to repeat
that single election. Nicephore Soglo's Renaisance du Benin (RB)
party won the new vote, paving the way for the former president
to be elected Mayor of Cotonou by the new city council in February
2002.
On April 20 and May 1, 2008, Benin held its second local and municipal elections, which were marred by fraud allegations and irregularities. Voters filed appeals with the Supreme Court, which nullified results in a number of communes and ordered new elections and recounting of votes in constituencies where results were contested.
Former West African Development Bank Director Boni Yayi won the March 2006 election for the presidency in a field of 26 candidates. International observers including the United Nations, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and others called the election free, fair, and transparent. President Kérékou was barred from running under the 1990 constitution due to term and age limits. President Yayi was inaugurated on April 6, 2006.
Benin held legislative elections on March 31, 2007 for the 83 seats in the
National Assembly. The "Force Cowrie for an Emerging Benin" (FCBE), a coalition of parties closely linked to President Yayi, won a plurality of the seats in the National Assembly, providing the president with considerable influence over the legislative agenda. The “G-13” deputies from minor political parties who had joined the FCBE to help President Yayi obtain a majority in the National Assembly subsequently left this coalition and joined undeclared opposition parties, including G4 and Force Cle, forming an unstable though blocking majority.
Principal
Government Officials
President of the Republic (Head of State and Head of the Government)--Boni Yayi
Ambassador to the United States--Sègbé Cyrille Oguin
Permanent Representative to the United Nations--Vacant
Benin
maintains an embassy in the United States at 2124 Kalorama Road,
Washington, DC 20008, tel. 202-232-6656. The Permanent Representative
of the Republic of Benin to the United Nations is located at 4
East 73rd Street, New York, NY 10021 tel. 212-249-6014, fax 212-734-4735.
Type:
Republic under multiparty democratic rule.
Independence: August 1, 1960.
Constitution: December 10, 1990.
Branches: Executive--President, elected by popular
vote for 5-year term, appoints the Cabinet. Legislative--Unicameral,
83-seat National Assembly directly elected by popular vote for
4-year terms. Judicial--Constitutional Court: seven members nominated
by National Assembly and then appointed by the President; Supreme
Court: 13 members, six elected by National Assembly, the Constitutional
Court (except for its President) ex officio, and the President
of the Supreme Court ex officio. Constitutional Court:
seven members nominated by President of the Republic (three) and
by National Assembly (4). Supreme Court: president
nominated by the President of the Republic after advice of the
President of the National Assembly. High Court of Justice: All
members of Constitutional Court (except its president), six deputies,
and President of the National Assembly.
Subdivisions: Twelve departments: Alibori, Atakora,
Atlantique, Borgou, Collines, Couffo, Donga, Littoral, Mono, Oueme,
Plateau, and Zou.
Political parties (partial listing of major parties):
La Renaissance du Bénin (RB), Party of Democratic Renewal
(PRD), Social-Democrat Party (PSD), African Movement for Development
and Progress (MADEP), Party of Democratic Renewal-Rainbow (PRD-Arc-en-ciel),
Alliance Etoile, Action Front for Democratic Renewal (FARD-ALAFIA),
African Congress for Renewal (CAR-DUNYA), Impulse for Progress
and Democracy (IPD), Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ADP),
National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP), New Generation
for the Republic (NGR), Our Common Cause (NCC), Ensemble, National
Rally for Democracy (RND), Rally for Progress and Renewal (RPR),
Movement for the People Alternative (MAP), National Rally for
Unity and Democracy (RUND), Congress of African Democrat (CAD),
Movement for Citizens' Commitment and Awakening (MERCI), Democratic
Union for Economic and Social Development (UDES), Rally for Democracy
and Progress (RDP), Communist Party of Benin (PCB).
