UntitledBackground
Benin is an acknowledged pioneer and leader among emerging African democracies, having organized three sets of national elections since transitioning to multi-party rule in 1991. The 2001 presidential elections, however, showed that the constitutional framework had limitations as the opposition pulled out of the elections after criticizing the National Autonomous Electoral Commission (CENA) and the Constitutional Court for their lack of impartiality.
Benin's first local elections that took place in December 2002 and January 2003, were the final element of the country's decentralized program aimed at devolving political, financial, and administrative powers to locally elected government councils and provided an opportunity to restore some public confidence in the country's electoral process. Former President Nicéphore Soglo's Renaissance du Bénin (RB) party won a majority of seats in Cotonou, clearing the way for Soglo to become mayor of Benin's largest city. The other major opposition party, the Parti du Rénouveau Démocratique (PRD) of National Assembly President Adrien Houngbédji, captured a majority of seats in the capital Porto-Novo, Benin's second-largest city. However, the Union du Bénin Futur (UBF), a coalition of parties backing President Mathieu Kérékou, won the vast majority of seats across the nation.
Past Activities
NDI has actively supported democratic reforms in Benin since 1991, when the Institute conducted a domestic election monitoring training program for civil society organizations during the 1991 presidential elections. More recently, NDI and IFES conducted a joint program to assist election authorities and to train political party monitors ahead of the 2001 presidential elections. In February 2001, NDI received additional USAID funding to support the Beninese electoral process by providing technical assistance to a local civil society group to organize presidential debates. After the first round of the elections in March 2001, however, it became clear that the political environment was no longer favorable for the planned debates. In July 2001, NDI instead convened a political party roundtable for Beninese political party leaders and other interested groups to evaluate the role of political parties in the presidential elections and to make concrete recommendations for improving the country's electoral and political processes.
Recent Activities
Local Election Candidate Trainings
NDI implemented a series of political party trainings for candidates to the local elections focused on new decentralized local government structure, public speaking, and debating skills. These sessions were to assist candidates participating in public exchanges with citizens prior to the elections. The Institute trained over 370 political party candidates from more than 30 parties across the country.
Support Mission to the Beninese Electoral Mission
In December of 2002, NDI deployed a high level international team of seven experts to assess the political environment in the pre-election period, and to remind the Beninese political leaders of the need for credible elections that could strengthen the country's democratic institutions and help mitigate potential violence or conflict during the election period. Prior to election day, the delegation met with a cross section of leaders and representatives of the main political parties, members of parliament, candidates in the local elections, journalists and members of the electoral commission to assess electoral preparations and to provide opportunities to discuss the various concerns and expectations of a variety of individuals, parties and organizations. The delegation also conducted several targeted interviews with Beninese journalists to highlight the significance of local elections in emerging democracies and their role in building public confidence in the country's electoral process. Read more about the assessment here:
Post-Election Political Party Roundtable
In February of 2003, NDI conducted a post-election roundtable for Beninese political parties to evaluate the local elections. Political party representatives, civic activists, and election officials attended the meeting.
Participants developed a list of recommendations for improving the election process and environment, including the creation of an election observation group for civil society, the continuance of training of party election observation, ongoing dialogue with political parties, the familiarization of ordinary citizens with the responsibilities of governmental electoral institutions, and the identification of ways to implement all these recommendations.
Contact Information
For further information on our programs in Benin,
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