In Benin, Patrice Talon's parties win 77% of the seats in the municipal elections

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In Benin, the Electoral Commission published in the early hours of Thursday, May 21, the provisional results of the municipal elections of May 17. The Progressive Union and the Republican Bloc, the two parties of the head of state, Patrice Talon, grab 77% of the 1,815 seats at stake, or 1,555 seats. With a national participation rate of 49.14%, according to a press release from the Céna.

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With our correspondent in Cotonou , Jean-Luc Aplogan

Among the 49.14% participation rate on the national level, the Céna did not communicate the detail commune by commune. The turnout was a highly anticipated figure, due to the boycott call from the main opposition parties and in the context of the Covid-19 . On May 19, the opposition, which did not participate in the vote, made its own compilation and instead estimated the overall turnout at 25%.

The electoral platform of civil society, noted on May 17 , strong disparities in the country. She indicated that she observed in the crowded region, while evoking at the same time a weak mobilization in Cotonou and Abomey-Calavi.

Of the 1,815 seats at stake, the two parties of Patrice Talon won 1,555 seats. The Cowrie Force for a New Benin, FCBE, the ex-party of Thomas Boni Yayi, won only 260 seats, or around 15% of the votes.

Future negotiations with the three parties in mind

Now, these are the three parties that control the municipalities of Benin and it is with them that the candidates for the presidential election of 2021 will have to negotiate sponsorships to validate their file.

At the end of these municipal elections, the Party for Democratic Renewal, PRD by Adrien Houngbedji suffered its biggest setback since 1991. Zero adviser for the rainbow party with only 5% of the votes. To answer the taunts, his communications delegate pointed out that "  the rainbow disappears, but never disappears  ".

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• Benign
• Patrice Talon

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