The Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA) on Monday handed over checks to four political parties for public funding, including two supporting the ruling majorityof President Patrice Talon and two of the Opposition.
Two of these parties are from the opposition.
The Union Progressiste le Renouveau, the leading political force in Benin with the most local elected officials and deputies, got away with just over 706 million CFA francs. The Bloc Republicain, also part of the ruling coalition, received 545 million. The ‘Force Cauris pour un Benin Emergent’, an opposition party, received a check for just
over 129 million. Former President Yayi Boni’s ‘Les Democrates’ party, which entered the National Assembly after the January 2023 legislative elections, received 118 million.
Of the 15 or so political parties legally registered in Benin, only these four were elected in the last local and legislative elections.
The charter of political parties, the law on public financing of political parties in Benin and the electoral code are the texts that organize this measure. According to these texts, each year the state disburses three billion CFA francs at a rate of 750 million per quarter to finance the most representative political parties.
The 1.5 billion francs distributed by the CENA on Monday are equivalent to the first two quarters of the year 2023.
RK/ac/fss/APA