COTONOU: Benin voted Sunday in parliamentary and local elections, just one month after a failed coup plot shook the West African country and three months ahead of presidential polls.
President Patrice Talon’s ruling coalition is expected to strengthen its already powerful hand in the elections, with the main opposition Democrats party barred from the local polls.
The elections come at a fraught moment for Benin, still reeling from a deadly coup attempt by army mutineers on Dec. 7, which was put down by the military, with support from Nigeria and France.
Talon, 67, who is nearing the end of his second five-year term, called on all voters to “do their duty” as he cast his ballot.
• The elections come at a fraught moment for Benin, still reeling from a deadly coup attempt by army mutineers on Dec. 7, which was put down by the military.
