( 2 minutes read)
· Benin President Patrice Talon will contest the presidential election, which will be held in less than three months
· The opposition points out that the Talon had tried to tamper with the country’s legal system by setting up a special court , to put his opponents on the mat.
Now it is public; Benin President Patrice Talon will contest the presidential election, which will be held in less than three months. He kicked off his campaign with an announcement of his candidacy for a second term. His pitch is that he can strengthen the governance architecture of the country if given another term. It may be noted that at the time of election in 2016, Talon’s declaration was that he would serve only for one term. However, the opposition right from the beginning was doubting the veracity of that public statement and was almost sure that he would backtrack from his assurance. He is often criticized for his so called authoritarian hold on the governance structure.
The opposition points out that the Talon had tried to tamper with country’s legal system by setting up a special court, to put his opponents on the mat. Recently, as latest in December 2019, the African Court of Human Rights handed down a new ruling against the Beninese state ordering the annulment of the recent constitutional revision. However, that ruling has not been implemented as yet. Subsequently, in early January the Constitutional Court of Benin declared itself incompetent to judge an appeal against the sponsorship system, leaving the issue unresolved.
A section of the opposition has since created a grand coalition called the ‘Front for the Restoration of Democracy’ in an attempt to take on President Talon in the elections. It is to be seen how the combined opposition can influence Talon’s bid for another term.
