Benin vote a test for anti-graft
Sunday, April 1, 2007
VOTERS in Benin went to the polls yesterday in legislative elections seen as a test for President Yayi Boni one year after he took office pledging to fight corruption in the impoverished west African country.
The election was originally set for March 25. But on the eve of the vote, the Constitutional Court decided to delay the polls by one week due to difficulties in organising them.
Some four million people are eligible to cast ballots in the election that will choose 83 members of the legislature from among 2,158 candidates from 26 political parties and groups.
Sources close to the national electoral commission said the first official results will be made public "in several days' time".
The election is seen as test of support for Boni, a virtual political unknown who was the surprise winner of the presidential poll in March last year.
Elected with 74 per cent of the vote, former banker Boni made "change", economic growth and the fight against corruption the major planks of his campaign.
Some 20 parties that back Boni have grouped together to form the Cauri Forces for an Emerging Benin (FCBE).
FCBE candidates are up against both the Democratic Renewal Party (DRP), loyal to Adrien Houngbedji, the loser in last March's presidential election and another grouping known as the Alliance for Dynamism and Democracy (Alliance Dynamisme Dmocratique, ADD).AFP
The election was originally set for March 25. But on the eve of the vote, the Constitutional Court decided to delay the polls by one week due to difficulties in organising them.
Some four million people are eligible to cast ballots in the election that will choose 83 members of the legislature from among 2,158 candidates from 26 political parties and groups.
Sources close to the national electoral commission said the first official results will be made public "in several days' time".
The election is seen as test of support for Boni, a virtual political unknown who was the surprise winner of the presidential poll in March last year.
Elected with 74 per cent of the vote, former banker Boni made "change", economic growth and the fight against corruption the major planks of his campaign.
Some 20 parties that back Boni have grouped together to form the Cauri Forces for an Emerging Benin (FCBE).
FCBE candidates are up against both the Democratic Renewal Party (DRP), loyal to Adrien Houngbedji, the loser in last March's presidential election and another grouping known as the Alliance for Dynamism and Democracy (Alliance Dynamisme Dmocratique, ADD).AFP
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