Polling stations were closed in Benin as voters headed to the polls for a general election seen as a test of democracy in the West African nation.
Opposition parties were back on the ballot papers for Sunday’s vote after being boycotted or expelled from recent presidential and general elections.
Benin’s image as a bastion of democracy and stability in the region was tarnished under President Patrice Talon, who backtracked on his promise not to run for another term and has overseen a crackdown on the opposition since taking office in 2016.
About 6.6 million voters were eligible to take part in Sunday’s polls to elect 109 MPs, including at least 24 women – at least one per constituency – under a new electoral law.
People check their names as they prepare to cast their ballots at a polling station in Cotonou, Benin, during the general election [Charles Placide Tossou/Reuters]
Seven parties took part in the vote, including Les Democrates party, which is linked to Talon’s predecessor and rival Thomas Boni Yayi.
Boni Yayi supporters led protests in 2019 after opposition parties were barred from the parliamentary vote for failing to meet tough new eligibility criteria.
“It is the first time since 2019 that the opposition has returned to the polls, which is significant,” Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reported from a polling station in the country’s largest city, Cotonou.
He said the opposition “needs representation in parliament for their candidates to qualify for the presidential elections” due to be held in 2026.
“This election witnessed a low turnout that was below the expectations of civil society,” Idris added.
Preliminary results, expected on January 11, could also be an indicator of the strength of the various political forces fighting to succeed President Talon.
Talon is not affiliated with any party, but is supported by the two parties currently in power in parliament – the Bloc Republicain and the Union Progressiste le Renouveau.
The vote appeared to have passed without protests like those in 2019 or 2021 against Talon’s decision to seek re-election, said political analyst Expedit Ologou, head of Beninese think-tank Civic Academy for Africa’s Future.
“The atmosphere appears to be calm, peaceful, friendly and fraternal in most parts of the country,” he told Portal.
Under Talon, political protests have been met with deadly police violence, while politicized law enforcement and other legal tactics have been used to stifle opposition, United States democracy watchdog Freedom House said in a 2022 report.
Talon has denied attacking political opponents or violating human rights.
Regional security may have a higher priority for voters in this election as Benin, alongside neighboring Togo and Côte d’Ivoire, has seen increasing attacks from armed groups linked to Al Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), while violence spread from the Sahel -Southern countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
The insecurity and higher cost of living linked to the war in Ukraine pose a threat to Benin’s recent economic gains, the International Monetary Fund warned last July.
Benin’s agriculture-dependent economy has recovered since the coronavirus pandemic, growing more than 7 percent in 2021 and the first half of 2022. But the country of 12 million people remains one of the poorest in the world, with a fifth of the population living on less than $1.90 a day, according to the World Bank.
Benin’s President Patrice Talon gestures after casting his vote in the general election [Charles Placide Tossou/Reuters]
Aside from the opposition’s bid to retake seats in parliament, Sunday’s election will affect the future of some of the country’s other institutions.
The mandate of the Constitutional Court ends this year and the composition of the court is crucial as it oversees decisions on elections.
Four judges are appointed by the legislature, while the other three are elected by the president.
Talon, a wealthy businessman, was elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2021.