The Electoral Commission published in the early hours of Thursday 21 May the provisional results of the 17 May communal elections in Benin. The Progressive Union and the Republican Bloc, the two parties of the Head of State, Patrice Talon, took 77% of the 1,815 seats at stake, i.e. 1,555 seats. ‘‘La Force Cauris pour un Bénin nouveau, FCBE’’, Thomas Boni Yayi’s former party, has only 260 seats, about 15% of the vote.
At the end of these communal elections, Adrien Houngbedji’s Party for Democratic Renewal, PRD, suffered its biggest setback since 1991. Zero councilors for the rainbow party with only 5% of the votes. In response to the taunts, his delegate for communication points out that “the rainbow fades, but never disappears”.