Benin holds presidential election four months after failed coup | Africa

This Sunday, just four months after a failed coup, Benin goes to the polls in a presidential election that feels more like a coronation than a contest.

Patrice Talon, a businessman turned politician who has been president since 2016, cannot run again after serving two five-year terms.

The winner of Sunday’s election will have the chance to run for two seven-year terms after a controversial constitutional amendment extended presidential terms.

The country’s finance minister, Romuald Wadagni, who emerged as the ruling coalition’s candidate without any primaries, is the favorite to win by an overwhelming majority this weekend.

According to investigative newsletter Africa Confidential, the path to winning over Wadagni was paved with ruthless efficiency. other possible contestants pushed aside, appeased or pushed away.

Wadagni, who speaks fluent English after working as a technocrat in the United States for years, is seen as the architect of Benin’s recent financial stability under Talon. In a country where more than half the population is young, he was tempted by promises of free education and more jobs.

If the 49-year-old leader wins, he will be one of the youngest leaders on the continent, where the average presidential age is 65. West and Central Africa is home to the world’s two longest-serving leaders: 93-year-old Paul Biya of Cameroon and Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, 83.

The peaceful democratic transition following the failed coup also offers Benin an opportunity to buck another regional trend: At least three of its neighbors are ruled by juntas. But Talon’s critics say he is a dictator in a similar mold and accuse him of crushing opposition despite visible progress in the country.

Discontent spread to some units and coalesced into an attempted military coup in December. But many believe the soldiers are also mobilized because of an increase in jihadist attacks on the borders of Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria.

Many newspapers were closed indefinitely by the authorities after the publication of information critical of the government. Journalist Hugues Sossoukpè, who has been in exile in Togo since 2021, was arrested in Ivory territory by Beninese agents last July. He remains in Ouidah prison and has been labeled a “dangerous cyber activist advocating terrorism.”

“Civil space continues to shrink in Benin, with a wave of attacks on independent media outlets and people still arbitrarily arrested and detained for dissent,” said Dieudonné Dagbéto, head of Amnesty International Benin. “Despite progress, women and marginalized groups remain discriminated against, while forced evictions endanger the human rights of thousands of people.”

There are also concerns about Benin becoming increasingly a one-party state. In 2024, parliament raised the thresholds for candidacy and now requires parties to receive at least 10% of the vote to gain seats and that the presidential candidate must be supported by at least 15% of the country’s mayors and MPs. This helped the ruling coalition win all 109 seats in January’s parliamentary elections, as opposition parties found it extremely difficult to make cuts.

Only 36% of the nearly 7.8 million people registered to vote took the survey in January. There are concerns about a similar outcome ahead of this weekend.

The main opposition to Wadagni is former culture minister Paul Hounkpè from the fringe opposition party Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin (FCBE). He is seen as a symbolic candidate after a deal was struck with the ruling coalition to meet the required threshold.

The main opposition party Democrats, who cannot meet the conditions, do not nominate candidates. Although they did not call for a boycott, they refused to support anyone in this weekend’s elections. In fact, the party suspended almost two dozen of its members for anti-party activities after it was reported that they supported the ruling coalition candidate.

“Disqualification of our duo [candidate and running mate] “It is a programmed exclusion,” he said. a statement After the constitutional court approved the expulsion decision last October. “This proves that the 2026 elections are designed to produce a serious rival to power.”