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Elections in Benin take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy and a
presidential system A presidential, strong-president, or single-executive system (sometimes also congressional system) is a form of government in which a head of government (usually titled " president") heads an executive branch that derives its authority and l ...
. Both the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
and 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 directly elected by voters, with elections organised by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA).


Electoral history

In 1926 three elected seats were created on the Administrative Council. Elections with a severely limited franchise were held in
1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...
,
1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...
,
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
,
1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
and
1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...
. Following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the territory began to elect members to the
French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...
. The first of these elections took place on 21 October 1945, with Dahomey and neighbouring
Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...
combined into a single constituency. Two MPs were elected using separate electoral colleges for French citizens and Africans. A
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
was held in February 1946 after one of the two elected MPs died in December 1945, with a second full election for the combined constituency held in June 1946. By the November 1946 elections, Dahomey had become a single-member seat. A General Council was established in the same period and was first elected in January 1947.Patrick Manning (2004) ''Slavery, Colonialism and Economic Growth in Dahomey, 1640-1960'', Cambridge University Press, p276 The result was a victory for the Dahomeyan Progressive Union, which won 20 of the 30 elected seats. French National Assembly elections were held again in
1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...
, with Dahomey now having two seats; the Liste de l'Union Française and the Ethnic Group of the North (GEN) each won one seat. The General Council was converted into the Territorial Assembly in 1952, with the first elections to the new body resulting in a victory for the Republican Party of Dahomey (PRD), which won 19 of the 32 seats elected by the second college. The final French National Assembly election in Dahomey was held in
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
, with the PRD and GEN each winning a seat. The Republican Party went on to win the 1957 Territorial Assembly elections. It also won the 1959 elections, despite receiving fewer votes than the Dahomeyan Democratic Union (UDD), which emerged as the smallest of the three parties in the legislature. Following claims of fraud, the PRD gave nine seats to the UDD, although it remained the largest party. Following independence on 1 August 1960,
parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
were held in December. The newly established Dahomeyan Unity Party won all 60 seats following changes to the electoral system by President Hubert Maga.Mathurin C Houngnikpo & Samuel Decalo (2012) ''Historical Dictionary of Benin'', Scarecrow Press, p38 The country subsequently became a
one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...
, and the Dahomeyan Democratic Party was the only party to contest the elections in 1964, winning all 42 seats. Following a military coup, attempts were made to reintroduce democracy;
presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...
were held in May 1968, but the results were invalidated due to insufficient voter turnout. The military government subsequently appointed
Émile Derlin Zinsou Émile Derlin Zinsou (23 March 1918 – 28 July 2016) was a Beninese politician and physician who was the List of heads of state of Benin, President of Dahomey (now Benin) from 17 July 1968 until 10 December 1969, supported by the military regim ...
as president, but he took the post on the condition that he was approved by voters. A subsequent
vote Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representative ...
on his candidacy was approved by just over three-quarters of voters. Another military coup led to
presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...
in 1970. Although they were won by Justin Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin, this was due to the results in Atakora being annulled, denying Hubert Maga victory. In order to prevent a civil war, Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin, Maga and the other main candidate Sourou-Migan Apithy agreed to form a three-member presidential council. However, this lasted only until another coup in 1972. The country subsequently reverted to being a one-party state with the
People's Revolutionary Party of Benin People's, branded as ''People's ViennaLine'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH'', is an Austria, Austro-Switzerland, Swiss airline headquartered in Vienna, Austria. It operates schedul ...
as the sole legal party. A National Revolutionary Assembly was established in 1977, and one-party elections were held in
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
,
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
and
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
, before multi-party democracy was reintroduced at the start of the 1990s.
Parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
held in February 1991 saw 12 parties and alliances win seats in the National Assembly, with the Union for the Triumph of Democratic Renewal (UTRD) emerging as the largest group with just 12 of the 64 seats. UTRD candidate Nicéphore Soglo subsequently won the
presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...
in March, beating incumbent
Mathieu Kérékou Mathieu Kérékou (; 2 September 1933 – 14 October 2015) was a Beninese politician who served as president of the People's Republic of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and the Benin, Republic of Benin from 1996 to 2006. After seizing power in a milita ...
in a runoff.
Parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
in 1995 saw 18 groups win seats in the enlarged 83-seat National Assembly; 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 ...
became the largest party with 21 seats. The following year Soglo lost the
presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...
to Kérékou, who ran as an independent. Although Soglo received the most votes in the first round, Kérékou won 52% of the vote in the second. The 1999 parliamentary elections resulted in 16 groups winning seats; the Benin Rebirth Party remained the largest party with 27 seats. In 2001 Kérékou was re-elected president, running as the Action Front for Renewal and Development (FARD) candidate. However, the election was marred by the withdrawal of Soglo from the run-off after he alleged fraud. With third-place Adrien Houngbédji also refusing to participate, Kérékou faced Bruno Amoussou in the second round, winning with 84% of the vote. The 2003 parliamentary elections saw the majority of parties contest under the Presidential Movement or Opposition banner, with the pro-Kérékou Presidential Movement (dominated by the FARD-based Union for Future Benin) winning a majority of seats. The 2006 presidential election saw both Kérékou and Soglo barred from running by term limits and age.
Yayi Boni Thomas Boni Yayi (born 1 July 1951) is a Beninese banker and politician who was the president of Benin from 2006 to 2016. He took office after winning the 2006 Beninese presidential election, March 2006 presidential election and was re-elected to ...
defeated Houngbédji in the run-off, receiving 75% of the vote.
Parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
the following year saw the pro-Boni
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 ...
(FCBE) emerge as the largest faction, with 35 of the 83 seats. Boni was re-elected in March 2011 with 53% of the vote, the first time a presidential candidate had won in the first round of voting since the run-off was introduced. In the
parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
the following month the FCBE won 41 seats, narrowly missing out on obtaining a parliamentary majority. Parliamentary elections 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 ...
saw the FCBE–
Amana Alliance The Amana Alliance (, AA) is a political alliance in Benin led by Nassirou Bako Arifari and Zimé Kora Gounou.Tom Lansford (2013) ''Political Handbook of the World 2013'', CQ Press, p145 The alliance supports President Yayi Boni Thomas Boni Y ...
coalition emerge as the largest faction in the National Assembly with 33 seats. The 2016 presidential elections saw the FCBE candidate Lionel Zinsou receive the most votes in the first round, but then defeated in the second round by independent candidate Patrice Talon.


Electoral system


President

The President of Benin is elected using the
two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
.


National Assembly

During the one-party state era, elections to the National Revolutionary Assembly were conducted in the form of a referendum. Voters were presented with a single list of the ruling People's Revolutionary Party of Benin's candidates to vote for or against.Elections held in 1989
IPU
Term length was originally three years,Benin
IPU
but was extended to five years in the early 1980s.Benin
IPU
The number of seats varied; starting with 336 in 1979, reduced to 196 in 1984 and increased to 206 in 1989. Currently the 109 seats in the National Assembly 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.Electoral system
IPU
There are two constituencies for each of the country's 12
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, ...
. Voters must be at Beninese citizens aged 18 or over. However, people can be disqualified from voting if they are in contempt of court, have an undischarged bankruptcy or are imprisoned for at least three months for certain offences. Candidates must be at least 25 years old and have been resident in Benin for at least a year before the election. If not holding Beninese citizenship by birth, they must have lived in the country for at least 10 years. Government ministers, people working for businesses subsidised by state funds, people holding non-elected public office, involved in the military or working for foreign government or international organisations are not allowed to contest to stand as candidates.


Referendums

During the colonial era, voters participated in French constitutional referendums in
1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...
, May 1946 and October 1946. The 1958 referendum on the new constitution of the
French Fifth Republic The Fifth Republic () is France's current republic, republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of France, Constitution of the Fifth Republic.. The Fifth Republic emerged fr ...
was effectively an independence referendum, as if the terms of the constitution were rejected, the country would become an independent state. However, it was approved by 98% of voters, and
Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
was the only territory to reject the referendum. Following independence in 1960, a
constitutional referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...
was held in 1964, with the proposed changes to the constitution creating a presidential system of government, scrapping term limits for the president, and having a unicameral parliament.Dahomey (Benin), 5 January 1964: Constitution
Direct Democracy
It was approved by 99.8% of voters. Another
constitutional referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...
was held in 1968, with 92% voting in favour. The most recent
constitutional referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...
was held in 1990. The main changes were a proposed return to multi-party democracy, with a secondary question for those voting in favour of the change, as to whether the president should be subject to term limits; 93% voted in favour of the proposed changes, with 73% of all voters in favour of term limits.


References


External links


CENABenin
Adam Carr's Election Archive

African Elections Database {{Benin topics