Benin to hold elections
2003-03-27 13:46
Cotonou - The tiny west African country of Benin is due on Sunday to hold its fourth legislative elections since the introduction of multi-party polls in 1990.
About 3.1 million people are eligible to vote for a total of 1 162 candidates from 14 parties or political alliances in the running for 83 seats in the single chamber parliament.
Leading candidates in the elections include eight ministers from the government of President Mathieu Kerekou, 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, a former military ruler. Kerekou was re-elected in 2001.
The president's coalition is trying to garner a clear majority in parliament this time, but will face a new challenge from the African Movement for Democracy and Progress (Madep) party headed by a local tycoon, Sefou Fagbohoun, previously close to the ruling coalition.
"It is high time that we have a clear majority in the national assembly. You have to come out in hordes and vote massively for the UBF to avoid renewed tugging and pulling each time a law is voted," a candidate for the ruling coalition said recently.
No group has a clear majority in the outgoing parliament: the opposition has 38 deputies against 41 for the ruling coalition in the 83 seat national assembly.
The main themes in the current campaign are corruption, the alleged spiriting away of state funds and unemployment.
Sunday's elections will be held across about 5 000 polling stations spread throughout the country.
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.