Elected for a four year-term, MPs of Benin’s eighth legislature took office at the end of a ceremony chaired by the Office of the most senior officials of the new National Assembly, in accordance with Article 6 of procedural rules.
The rules which state that “the first session of each legislature is presided over by the oldest member of the National Assembly, assisted by the two of its youngest deputies, to sit in for the Secretary until the election of the bureau.
The investiture, which is the flagship event on the agenda, proceeded thus: the Office of the Senior MPs first read the decision of the Constitutional Court proclaiming the final results, then gave the names of all members.
Finally, it read the appeals contesting the election and the decisions rejecting such requests by the Constitutional Court.
In his opening speech, the President of the Wallis Zoumarou Bureau paid heartfelt tribute to the people of Benin who, in their wisdom and considerable foresight, have gone past the election period with some apprehensions, urging the government to maintain efforts aimed at avoiding division and hatred.
At the end of the ceremony, the deputies of the eighth legislature made an appointment on Friday for the election of members of the National Assembly Bureau.
Porto-Novo was under heavy security by the army, whose vehicles crisscrossed the city.
In the vicinity of the National Assembly, there was an impressive security presence, forcing vehicles and motorcycles to use bypasses.
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