Presidential Election: A Test Ballot For Benin

Sunday, in Benin, election day: the streets of Cotonou, the economic capital, remained surprisingly empty for a weekend. We had to wait until the beginning of the evening to see the flood of people again in the main arteries of the city. Otherwise, throughout the day, there were no crowds in the polling stations visited by Le Point Afrique. Except one. A mass of onlookers, but especially local and foreign media, gathered in the courtyard of the public primary school of Charles-Guillot-Zongo, located in a working-class neighborhood with a Muslim majority. All these little people were restless, stamping their feet. Some leading voters a little lost when it comes to finding their name on the lists. Others seemed more concerned with providing masks and gel to populations not very concerned about Covid-19.

At 9:15 a.m., traffic was cut off. A procession of black sedans comes to a halt. It is the outgoing head of state, Patrice Talon, 62, elected in 2016 and candidate for his own succession, who arrives accompanied by his wife. The applause of the crowd tears the heavy sky of Cotonou with difficulty. The president-candidate, who has chosen a woman from the Beninese political seraglio as his running mate, Mariam Chabi Talata, has come to set an example for his fellow citizens. “Benin is now a country which has expertise in the organization of elections” began Patrice Talon, questioned by the press. As far as I know, it’s going very well across the country. If I have a message to my fellow citizens, it is that everyone wants to go and do their duty, go and vote, ”launched the candidate carried by a group of political parties known as the presidential movement.

His wish was granted, by this sixty-year-old, in any case. “We have to go out and vote, it’s our duty as a citizen since the 1990s. We fought for that. We are all Beninese, after all, ”he said. A young Beninese girl, in a colorful dress, babyish face, has just voted, as evidenced by her finger colored with purple ink. “I was not afraid. This is north over there. Benin is my country, I have to go and vote, ”she said stoically. Indeed, at the beginning of the week, the inhabitants of several towns in the center and north of the country, strongholds of the opposition, blocked roads by erecting roadblocks. The army intervened and cleared the way using live ammunition. At least two civilians died and five others were injured.

“Our democracy has been flouted”

To journalists who asked him for a comment on this violence, the president, a little pointed, replied that “people have mobilized […] children, young people, hunters to attack the Republic, the symbol of our security, the police. There have been free demonstrations that no one has tried to prevent. So when we take people out with weapons and sometimes weapons of war, police officers have been injured. You talk about the victims, it would have been very good to talk about the victims, including the police officers who were injured, ”ruled the outgoing president, contested since almost the start of his mandate and now accused of authoritarian drift in this small country from West Africa, long cherished for its stability.

“Our democracy has been flouted, Madam,” calls out a young man dressed in a dark brown bomba suit. “I’ll tell you, people did not vote, and they say that the president is in the lead and that he will win,” he continues, his finger pointing towards the blackboard on which the results already appear. of the count. Of the 329 voters registered in this polling station, from the Sikè Sud primary school, from the Enagnon district, 73 came to vote. And 59 ballots were invalid. “Here, we are in the polling station of a high authority in our country and it did not even succeed in mobilizing the voters! Not even his neighbors, ”he lost his temper. Other young Beninese joined the discussion to describe a gloomy climate, where elections are no longer synonymous with parties, processions, snacks. “Before, you had to see, even when the vote was over, the ballot boxes were routed noisily. Everyone was fighting for their candidate. We then savored this day around a drink. It’s very simple, but it’s always fun, ”they say, a bit nostalgic.

No infatuation

This lack of enthusiasm is explained for many Beninese by the absence of heavyweights among the candidates. The main opposition figures are either in exile, or condemned by the courts and imprisoned, or prevented from running because of the new Electoral Code and institutional reform. Fear also weighed heavily. Inside the country, the observation was made of the low attendance at the polling stations. In Savè, in the center-north of the country, “the polling stations and ballot boxes remained empty all day, and some were burned by strangers”, according to a journalist from Agence France-Presse on the spot. In the neighboring town of Tchaourou, stronghold of former President Thomas Boni Yayi, “no polling station has opened”, according to several military sources, as well as the civil society observation mission. “The Beninese are not violent,” slips an international observer on condition of anonymity. They went to mass or to sports this morning. But everything will be fine, there will be peace, despite the context of tensions, ”adds this woman with an English accent. “We want peace” is one of the favorite verses.

“If Talon is elected?” I will call him and congratulate him ”

Five million voters were called to decide, three duos of candidates including Patrice Talon, but also two opponents who are former MPs Corentin Kohoué and Alassane Soumanou Djimba, who today have no concrete electoral weight. Yet “Djimba” as he is nicknamed, a Muslim from the north of the country, represents the Force Cauris for an Emerging Benin (FCBE) party, the largest opposition political formation once led by former head of state Thomas Boni Yayi. “If I am not elected president, it will not be because of Patrice Talon, but because of the people,” he warned. And “if Talon is elected?” I will call him and congratulate him. »

As for Corentin Kohoué, 67, he first led a long career as a civil administrator, before launching into the presidential race. “I’m not the camera man. I don’t like projectors, ”he often says. Yet a member of the Democrats, the new party of former President Thomas Boni Yayi, Corentin Kohoué, twice prefect and deputy, decided to present his dissident candidacy just a few days before the files were submitted to the Electoral Commission. It is presented under the banner of “Restore confidence”, a new political movement unknown to Beninese until then. This former communist, trained in economics in Benin, Hungary and France, was opposed throughout the campaign to Patrice Talon “the capitalist” and severely criticized the achievements of his five-year term, in particular “his too expensive roads”, which “are just window dressing”.

“You know, the Beninese like to play at being afraid, smiles the coordinator of a polling station of the 12^e arrondissement of the capital, watching the arrival of voters drop by drop. Here, we love the suspense. Either the Cena is not ready, or the candidates are arguing. We have even canceled elections several times overnight, ”points out this partisan affiliated with the presidential camp.

Irregularities

“Some neighborhood leaders came to pick up people from their homes, at the last moment, to get them to vote,” said this young man, certain of his sources. “It is true that it is to be noted some failures here in Cotonou, but also in the North, due to the delay in the delivery of the material, and also some demonstrations which disturbed the ballot in these places. But things were also very quickly brought under control ”, analyzes Chacha Angelo Michael Sènakpton, observer of Beninese civil society. Over the course of the day, the Platform of Civil Society Organizations noted a large number of irregularities. “In all departments, attempts to pressure, intimidate, threaten, disturb public order, corruption or harassment of voters were observed,” reporting ballot stuffing and multiple votes. “This violence is very strong polarization indicators for the country”, decrypts Oswald Padonou, expert on defense and security issues. It is sad that, in this context, it is the army and the police who find themselves on the front line, facing violence ultimately based on regional and ethnic considerations, ”he said. “What changed was that the whole system had become untenable. There was a form of acceptance of the company whose cogs were oiled, but with the new governance, it does not work any more, says an analyst, who does not want to be quoted.

So what will Benin do? Pending the results of this first round expected for the next few days, several voices, including the opposition, were raised for the establishment of a dialogue or national meetings. A line of thought that is not to be excluded, according to several observers. “Benin can think about a permanent consultation framework between the political actors, but which would be organized outside the Parliament”, submits, the president of the Beninese Association of strategic and security studies. This already exists in Niger. “The only downside, however, raises Oswald Padonou,” if, previously, Benin knew how to unite around moral authorities capable of appeasing almost all situations, today this is no longer the case “, points out. he, before launching, annoyed: “All our moral, religious or traditional authorities have lost their credibility at the same time as our democratic model collapsed. “