APA-Cotonou (Benin) Detained since March 2021, the opponent and senior official of ‘Les Democrates’ Party was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for complicity in the financing of terrorism in December of the same year.
Beninese President Patrice Talon will not support any action to release opposition politician Reckya Madougou. This was announced by the ‘Les Democrates’ at a press conference held in Cotonou after Monday’s meeting between the party’s leaders and Benin’s Head of State.
At the meeting, former president Boni Yayi, leader of the ‘Les Democrates’, called on his successor to support the bill tabled in the National Assembly to grant amnesty to “political prisoners and detainees.” With the ruling coalition holding a majority in parliament, Boni Yayi wanted Patrice Talon to call on his camp to support the bill.
However, according to Eric Houndete, MP, the party’s first vice-president, who hosted the press conference, President Talon indicated that it was not his place to interfere with the prerogatives of the National Assembly. “President Boni Yayi himself led this plea for the President of the Republic to put his heart at the service of forgiveness. The President of the Republic did not understand this forgiveness as we wished. For us, it was like a sledgehammer blow, a stab in the ribs,” lamented Eric Houndete, a member of the ‘Les Democrates’ delegation that met with Patrice Talon on Monday evening. Mr. Houndete reports that in the case of Reckya Madougou, President Talon is showing “inflexibility”, even refusing to pardon her.
However, the leaders of the opposition party declare that they do not intend to give up the fight, which will continue around the bill currently before the National Assembly.
Patrice Talon is not offering Reckya Madougou, rejected candidate of the ‘Les Democrates’ for the April 2021 presidential election, any chance, but other militants incarcerated in cases of electoral violence will benefit from the President’s clemency. According to Deputy Houndete, “The President of the Republic has immediately given instructions to the Minister of Justice to expedite the cases,” he says with satisfaction. The first vice-president of ‘Les Democrates’ pointed out that “many of our comrades and compatriots are in prison because of the 2023, 2021 and even 2019 elections.”
Patrice Talon in favor of auditing the electoral file
During the audience, President Talon and his hosts also heard Boni Yayi’s criticism of the electoral process, and in particular of the electoral list, which he had asked to be audited. On this subject, Eric Houndete declared in his report that the Head of State had yielded to their demands. However, Patrice Talon has opted for an internal audit, calling on local expertise and state resources, contrary to the wishes of the leader of ‘Les Democrates’, who requested an international audit. “We hope that this agreement signed by the Head of State will actually be translated into reality, with the requirements that this entails. Once we have defined the contours, we hope that he will continue to agree with us, because we cannot continue to go to the elections with a list that creates difficulties for voters,” the vice-president of ‘Les Democrates’ reports.
Still on the subject of the electoral process, the ‘Les Democrates’ party, which represents over a quarter of the seats in the National Assembly, wants to join the autonomous National Electoral Commission (Cena). But on this point, President Patrice Talon has offered no guarantees. However, says Eric Houndete, the Head of State has reassured Boni Yayi that his party will henceforth have places in the decentralized structures attached to the Cena. “We have obtained from the President of the Republic that we put in place a mechanism that allows the ‘Les Democrates’ party and other opposition forces to provide electoral staff. It’s a second step forward that we’ve been able to obtain in the march towards an election that’s a little fairer and more transparent,” explains the first vice-president of the ‘Les Democrates’ party, who was reporting on the meeting between Patrice Talon and a delegation from the party.
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