Benin report - Institut Africain de la Gouvernance

CHAPTER TWO: HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND CURRENT CHALLENGES__________________________________________________________________________attitude to adopt towards the protestors and opponents. The whole country wasparalysed.62. The social and political unrest compelled President Mathieu Kérékou toabandon the Marxist-Leninist ideology and accept the institution of a Nationaland Sovereign Conference of the Bone and Sinew of the Nation, the first of itskind in Africa. Convened in Cotonou in February 1990, the conferenceestablished transitional bodies: a president of the republic, a prime minister, ahead of government, and the HCR. The HCR served at the same time as alegislative assembly and a constitutional court. Finally, a constitutionalcommittee was set up to draft a new constitution, which was approved byreferendum on 2 December 1990.63. Long considered to be the „sick child‟ of Africa because of its chronicinstability, the Republic of Benin thus became a pioneer of thedemocratisation movement in Africa. Indeed, after 17 years of the Marxist-Leninist military regime, Benin had initiated a wave of national conferences,with which about 12 countries in the continent had experimented.2.3 The period of democratic renewal of the 1990s 464. Following the National Sovereign Conference, a transitional government wasformed in 1990. It paved the way for a return to democracy and multipartypolitics. Prime Minister Nicéphore Soglo defeated Kérékou in the presidentialelection of March 1991. He reinstated voodoo in order to win the support oftraditional authorities and made 10 January of each year a National VoodooDay.65. However, the SAP and reduction in public expenditure recommended by theIMF, coupled with the deepening of the economic crisis in the wake of thedevaluation of the CFA franc in 1994, revived popular discontent. After losinghis majority in the Legislative Assembly, President Soglo, accused ofnepotism by his opponents, was defeated by Mathieu Kérékou in thepresidential election of 17 March 1996. Following the resignation of PrimeMinister Adrien Houngbédji in May 1998, President Kérékou assumed thefunctions both of head of state and prime minister. In any case, he had createdthe post of prime minister more for reasons of political expediency at the timethan for constitutional reasons, since the constitution makes no provision forthis position.66. During the 2001 elections at the end of his mandate, President Kérékou wonthe first ballot ahead of his predecessor, Nicéphore Soglo. With the withdrawalof Soglo and that of the other two candidates – who described the ballot as a“farce” – Mathieu Kérékou was re-elected as president of the republic, with84.06% of the votes, in March 2001.67. Aged 73 and 72 years respectively in 2006, the outgoing head of state,Mathieu Kérékou, and his great rival Nicéphore Soglo had already exceeded4 Text adapted from the article by INSAE, „History of Benin‟. www.insae-bj.org.47