Seven months before the next legislative elections, scheduled for January 8, 2023, the Beninese clergy organized Friday, May 20 in Cotonou assizes for a ballot “ transparent, inclusive and peaceful “. He invited all the political actors. The outgoing parliament is monocolored and the opposition has no elected members, since it was excluded from the 2019 ballot, marked by deadly violence.
With our correspondent in Cotonou, Jean-Luc Aplogan
Movement, opposition, civil society, presidents of institutions… No one shunned the invitation of the Beninese clergy in the capital Cotonou. The Archbishop of Cotonou, Roger Houngbedji, whose word is rare, spoke at the opening of these meetings, happy with the presence of such opposing camps:
” They spontaneously accepted our invitation, all parties combined. All the events that we experienced with violence, various dissensions at the level of the country, did not help at all with a real cohesion. We want to do our part, the Church cannot be apart of this democratic game. »
The Beninese clergy, who had played a major role in the sovereign national conference of February 1990, do not want the violence that punctuated the 2019 legislative elections repeat themselves. During the debates, many participants, opponents and civil society, recommended a ” inclusive legislative election “, reference to 2019 when no opposition party had been able to participate in the ballot. Democrats call on the president Patrice Talon an open vote and a transparent electoral process.
” We must open the electoral game. As far as Les Démocrates is concerned, when we are on the ground, a fundamental question comes back to us: will the head of state allow you to go to the elections? If the principle is acquired, we would like to be involved at all levels of management “says Jean-Claude Kouagou, member of the Les Démocrates party.
Other voices have suggested the release of detained political actors. For the rest, the chaplain of executives and political figures, Father Yaovi Soédé, declares that it is necessary to maintain the dynamic of dialogue, exchanges and listening between the parties, without indicating a timetable or future actions.