Mr. Jacques Migan, a former president of the Bar Association in Benin and a member of the ruling ‘Bloc Republicain’ coalition, has caused a stir after encouraging President Patrice Talon to bid for a controversial third term.
Benin’s constitution sets a two-term limit for the presidency.
A lively controversy has been provoked by the lawyer’s pronouncement which suggested that some
people would like the current head of state to run for a third term in the 2026 presidential elections. This statement made on an online television on March 12, 2023 has caused an outcry among those who are
opposed to such a proposed bid.
Mr. Migan tried to clarify his position in an interview with APA.
“I have never called on Patrice Talon to serve a third term, but when we visit the villages and when we visit the neighbourhoods, we hear some of the people say we want Talon to continue his mission. That’s what I said. These people see positive acts being carried out on Beninese territory in terms of infrastructure and social actions and
they want this to continue,” Jacques Migan argued.
He claimed that he is only faithfully transmitting the message of certain populations. The lawyer who calls himself a legalist swore that he cannot call on President Talon to attempt a third term when the Beninese constitution does not allow it.
A fundamental law amended in November 2019 clearly states in Article 42 that “the President of the Republic is elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of five years, renewable once. In no case may anyone serve more than two presidential terms.”
The lawyer at the origin of the controversy also maintains that the constitution can indeed be revised to review this provision and modify, if necessary, the age limit set at 70 years.
He acknowledged however, that the current configuration of the National Assembly does not allow for this. The 28 deputies of the Democratic Party form a stumbling block and can prevent any constitutional reform.
Benin’s basic law requires at least three-quarters (3/4) of the 109 deputies to receive a vote in the National Assembly and submit any proposed constitutional amendment to a referendum.
For the parliament to proceed directly to the constitutional reform, it is imperative to collect at least the votes of four-fifth (4/5) of the MPs.
Migan’s suggestion was strongly denounced in a good part of the Beninese public opinion.
The former president of the Constitutional Court, Professor Theodore Holo, does not share the “activism” of
Jacques Migan, a member of the ‘Bloc Republicain’ party, on this issue.
The constitutionalist strongly opposed the statements of the former president of the Bar even inviting the Beninese justice to take up the issue.
In a message widely reported by the Beninese press, Prof. Holo recalled that in June 2018 in neighboring Niger, two civil society actors were sentenced to prison terms for calling on former President Mahamadou Issoufou to serve a third term.
For Theodore Holo, Jacques Migan’s statement can be considered an incitement to a coup against the
fundamental law.
“It is indecent to think that a president must remain in power to continue the work begun,” the former president of the Constitutional Court said.
Like Professor Holo, many Beninese have reacted to castigate the statements of the former president of the Bar.
Karim Goundi, an executive of the opposition party ‘Les Democrates’, called on the lawyer to clarify the people who told him that they wanted Patrice Talon to stay in power.
“Where did he take the survey? He speaks of a certain population, he must specify in which electoral district, in
which commune, in which arrondissement, there were these statements,” demanded Mr. Goundi.
He believes that Mr. Jacques Migan should not raise such a subject in the public arena at the risk of tempting the
Beninese President.
For Karim Goundi, this is a “joke in bad taste” that can lead to unrest and even cost human lives.
The opposition member of the party ‘Les Democrates’ recalled that in Benin, former presidents live quietly in the country after their time in office.
“When there are events we see former presidents, so we draw attention to this kind of initiatives that are not good for peace and social tranquility,” said Karim Koundi.
Since the beginning of the controversy, there is still no official reaction.
President Patrice Talon has never stopped repeating, at every opportunity, that he was not going to be a candidate for a third term.
RK/ac/fss/as/APA