Municipal elections: Benin enters the electoral campaign

A night view of Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin. Moritz Attenberger / LOOK-foto / Getty Images

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On May 17, 5 million Beninese will elect municipal councilors in the country's 77 municipalities. A total of 18,000 candidates and alternates are running on the lists representing five political parties, notably the Forces Cauris pour un Bénin emergent (FCBE) whose honorary president Boni Yayi has resigned.

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With our correspondent in Cotonou, Jean-Luc Aplogan

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the electoral campaign and the presentation of the programs for the municipal elections in Benin are dematerialized. They are broadcast entirely on television and radio, a first since the democratic renewal of 1990. The government has requisitioned spaces in the media across the country.

Before the start of the campaign, the president of the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA), recalled these new rules. Meetings, processions, door-to-door visits, sources of gathering and gathering of people, will not be allowed ," said Emmanuel Tiando. On the other hand, the use of town criers and the use of megaphones carried by all means of transport in circulation and not in parking will be authorized  ”.

12 million masks

Several candidates, who plan to supplement the device with social networks and billboards, said feeling cramped and prefer the field. The requisitioned media have changed their program schedules and have set aside 40 minutes of air time each day for each of the five qualified parties. The High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication dispatched a supervisor to monitor the count.

The president of the CENA declared that the electoral process was continuing at the request of the presidents of the institutions who demanded to guarantee voters health security on May 17. The Minister of Health announced on the eve of the campaign that he was making 12 million masks available.

► Read also: Benin: the ACHPR requests the suspension of the municipal elections in May

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