Parliamentary elections were held in

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

on 28 April 2019.Bénin : Patrice Talon fixe les législatives au 28 avril 2019
Jeune Afrique, 10 January 2019

Background

The election date was set at a meeting of the Council of Ministers on 9 January 2019, with the term of the National Assembly elected in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

due to expire in March 2019.

Electoral system

The 83 members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

are elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

in 24 multi-member constituencies, based on the country's

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

. A controversial new electoral code introduced in July 2018 saw the creation of an

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

of 10% of the national vote to enter parliament (higher than most countries which use a threshold), whilst the deposit required for a parliamentary list was increased from 8.3 million

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...

to 249 million francs (equivalent to roughly 380,000

euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

).Bénin : le nouveau code électoral suscite la polémique
Jeune Afrique, 27 September 2018 The reforms were aimed at reducing the large number of active political parties, which at the time numbered around 200.

Campaign

Due to the higher electoral threshold, several new parties and blocs were formed prior to the elections. The Progressive Union was formed by a merger of over 20 parties and alliances, including

Union Makes the Nation Union Makes the Nation (, abbreviated UN or the Union) is an alliance of opposition political parties in Benin, West Africa. It is composed of the MADEP, PSD, RB, Key Force, MDS, UNDP, MARCHE, PDPS, and RDL VIVOTEN, and therefore represent ...

, the

Benin Rebirth Party The Benin Rebirth Party () is a liberal political party in Benin. The party was founded on 24 March 1992 by then- First Lady Rosine Vieyra Soglo, who became the first Beninese woman to establish a new political party. The party was also headed by ...

, the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, Key Force, the

Congress of People for Progress The Congress of People for Progress () is a political party in Benin. At the last legislative elections in Benin, on March 30, 2003, the party was a member of the Presidential Movement, the alliance of supporters of Mathieu Kérékou Mathieu ...

, the

United Democratic Forces The United Democratic Forces (, ОДС/ODS) were a center-right electoral alliance in Bulgaria, led by the Union of Democratic Forces. Members of the coalition 1997 * Union of Democratic Forces (''Sayuz na Demokratichnite Sili'') * Bulgarian ...

, the Union for Relief, the Union for Democracy and National Solidarity, the Scout Alliance and the

Union for Benin The Union for Benin (, UB) is a political alliance in Benin led by Barnabé Dassigli.Tom Lansford (2013) ''Political Handbook of the World 2013'', CQ Press, p145 The alliance supports President Yayi Boni Thomas Boni Yayi (born 1 July 1951) is ...

. Despite a call from

Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin The Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin (, FCBE) is a political party of Benin, formed by supporters of president Yayi Boni. In the parliamentary election held on 31 March 2007, the party won 35 out of 83 seats. The party expanded its plurality t ...

leader and former President Thomas Boni Yayi for unity amongst opposition parties, it was reported that several opposition parties appeared set to run alone, including the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD). Although it was announced on 16 January 2019 that the opposition would form a single bloc to participate in the elections, only two blocs were registered to contest the elections – the Republican Bloc and the Progressive Union, both of which were linked to President

Patrice Talon Patrice Guillaume Athanase Talon (born 1 May 1958) is a Beninese politician and businessman who has been president of Benin since 6 April 2016. Early life and career Talon is of Fon origin and was born in Ouidah. He descends from slave tra ...

. The election commission rejected the applications of five opposition groups, including the PRD, Cowry Forces for the Development of Benin, Union for the Development of Benin, Moele-Bénin and the Social-Liberal Union.

Conduct

Protests against the new electoral law were banned, with protesters defying the ban arrested.Benin holds vote with no opposition
BBC News, 28 April 2019 Former presidents

Nicéphore Soglo Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo (born 29 November 1934) is a Beninese politician who was Prime Minister of Benin from 1990 to 1991 and President from 1991 to 1996. He was Mayor of Cotonou from 2003 to 2015. Soglo was married to Rosine Vieyra Soglo, ...

and Thomas Boni Yayi both spoke at a protest event in

Cotonou Cotonou (; ) is the largest city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The city lies ...

, at which police used tear gas. Prior to the elections, several opposition activists and political journalists were also arrested. On election day,

NetBlocks NetBlocks is a watchdog organization that monitors cybersecurity and the governance of the Internet. The service was launched in 2017 to monitor Internet freedom. Work Projects NetBlocks publishes original reporting on Internet governance ...

reported the blocking of social media platforms and the subsequent disconnection of nearly all internet connectivity in the country. The turnout of 23% (if only valid votes are considered) was a significant drop from 65% from the previous election and the lowest in an election since Benin adopted democracy.

Results

Voting did not take place in 39 of the country's 546

arrondissements An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissemen ...

due to local incidents.Bénin : abstention massive aux législatives
France 24, 1 May 2019

References

{{Beninese elections

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Elections in Benin

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results