Benin: the new electoral code attacked before the constitutional court

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Law No. 2024-13 amending and supplementing Law No. 2019-42 on the Electoral Code in the Republic of Benin is being challenged before the constitutional court.

Five jurists have just filed a constitutional appeal against Law No. 2024-13 amending and supplementing Law No. 2019-42 on the Electoral Code in the Republic of Benin.

The authors of the appeal particularly challenge the penultimate paragraph of amended Article 132 of the contested law. More specifically, the passage that states that “A deputy or mayor can only sponsor one candidate who is a member or designated by the party that presented him for his election.”

However, the last paragraph of the same article states that “However, in the event of a governance agreement concluded before the submission of candidacies for the presidential election and deposited with the CENA, the deputy or mayor can sponsor a candidate who is a member of either of the signing parties.”

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According to the jurists, there is a serious contradiction with the constitutional provisions, in particular Article 80 of the new Constitution. This article states that: “Deputies are elected by direct universal suffrage. The term of office is five (05) years, renewable twice. Each deputy is the representative of the entire Nation and any imperative mandate is void.“

The plaintiffs also raise concerns about the excessive percentages in the new Code. For example, this Code stipulates that “no one can be a candidate for the positions of President of the Republic or Vice President of the Republic unless he is duly sponsored by a number of deputies and/or mayors corresponding to at least 15% of all deputies and mayors and coming from at least 3/5 of the legislative electoral constituencies.”

According to the jurists, the revised code already contained a percentage that had caused unresolved controversies. The applicants believe that the requirements set out in Article 132 regarding the percentage of sponsorship to be obtained are excessively high and could lead to exclusion and potentially create situations of violence.