Benin's coalition wins

2003-04-04 13:13

Cotonou - The coalition of Benin's President Mathieu Kerekou has won legislative elections, securing a solid parliamentary majority for the first time since democracy was introduced in the small west African nation in 1991, the election commission announced late on Thursday.

It said provisional results from Sunday's polls showed the ruling Union for the Benin of the Future (UBF) and its allies had won 50 of the 83 seats in the unicameral parliament, against 33 for opposition parties.

The outgoing parliament was divided, with the ruling coalition holding 41 seats against 38 for the opposition, and Kerekou's supporters had sought a clear majority this time.

The election commission said 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, had won 15 and 12 seats respectively.

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.

But the results from Sunday's vote marked the first time he has won an absolute majority in parliament.

Kerekou led the country's fifth military coup in 1972. But in December 1990, a new constitution adopted by referendum officially put an end to 17 years of a military-Marxist regime in the former French colony.

The Star Alliance of Sacca Lafia and the New Alliance of former minister Sacca Lafia - both close to the opposition - each won three seats in Sunday's vote, the election commission said.

The UBF won 31 of the 50 seats garnered by the ruling coalition, with eight going to the African Movement for Democracy and Progress of wealthy businessman Sefou Fagbohoun.

About 3.1 million people were registered to vote to pick the new national assembly from 1 162 candidates from 14 parties and political alliances, but apathy reportedly prevailed and voter turnout was low.

A total of 11 parties will be represented in the new parliament.

The main themes of the election campaign were corruption and unemployment.

However, the economy is in far better health now than in previous years, mainly due to exports of cotton, the main revenue earner.

According to recent statistics released by the finance ministry, gross domestic product (GDP) growth rose from 4.5 percent in 1998 to six percent in 2002.

The inflation rate has fallen from 5.8% in 1998 to 2.5% in 2002.

Cotton, the country's main export accounting for about 80% of earnings, yielded a record crop in 2001-2002 with an output of 415 000 tons against an annual average of about 350 000 tons since the last 10 years. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA