Benin set for general elections
2003-03-30 12:34
Cotonou - About 3.1 million people were due to vote on Sunday in the fourth legislative elections in the west African country of Benin since the introduction of multi-party polls 12 years ago.
A total of 1 162 candidates from 14 parties or political alliances are in the running for 83 seats in the single chamber parliament.
The tiny west African country is regarded as a model of democracy in Africa as power has changed hands peacefully with a minimum of fuss.
About 500 domestic election observers will watch over the polls but there will be no international monitors, who say they are pinning their faith on the "maturity" of the Beninese people.
Leading candidates in the elections include eight ministers from the government of President Mathieu Kerekou who took power in a 1972 coup and ruled uninterruptedly apart from a short gap between 1991 and 1996, prominent businessmen and senior retired army officials.
Among the political groups fielding candidates are the ruling coalition, Union for the Benin of the Future (UBF); the main opposition Renaissance of Benin (RB) led by former president Nicephore Soglo; and the Party for Democratic Renewal (PRD) headed by Adrien Houngbedji, the mayor of Benin's capital Porto Novo.
Soglo, a former World Bank official, won Benin's first multi-party polls in 1991 and served as president until 1996, when he lost elections to Kerekou. Kerekou, dubbed the "chameleon" for his flexible political ideology, was re-elected in 2001.
The ruling coalition is trying to garner a clear majority in parliament this time. In the outgoing house, the opposition has 38 deputies against 41 for the ruling coalition.
The elections follow municipal polls held on December 15 and January 19 - the first time that Beninese people have elected their local representatives. Earlier mayors were nominated by the government.
The results of those polls were disputed by the opposition. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA