After the publication of the provisional list of candidates for the presidential election of April 11, only three duets are retained out of the twenty files, including the ticket of President Talon.
Exit the candidates of former President Boni Yayi’s party and the Restoration of Democracy Front, it was the two big tickets capable of delivering the match with the outgoing Head of state. They are out of the race and this is not to the liking of civil society organizations.
Ralmeg Gandaho, a civil society actor, was already pleading for an open ballot in September 2020 with his operation “Let me choose in 2021”.
The provisional list has dashed his hopes, he deplores “the manipulation of the tools of living together by political actors”.
Blanche Sonon heads the Social Watch Benin network. She is very bitter and says she feels bad for the Beninese democratic model. “A third time, the opposition will be absent again. It’s a pity for a democratic state like Benin. »
There are indeed two opposition tickets in the race, even if Blanche Sonon does not recognize them as such, the majority defends itself.
Is a repechage of the failed candidates still possible? Answer from Joël Atayi Guedegbe, expert in governance and great voice of civil society: “I’m afraid not, except for a cataclysm. The parliament is in recess, even if it were convened, the election is fast approaching. It would take a big jolt from the various stakeholders. “If things remain as they are, it is “the achievements of the national conference that are being eroded,” says Sonon.
Failed candidates do not disarm, they are active. We learn that Madame Madougou, candidate of the party Les Démocrates, filed an appeal before the Constitutional Court on Monday. As for Joel Aivo, he gave a press conference yesterday mid-morning.