While the 2019 parliamentary election in Benin has come to an end, many spectators foresee the start of a new, more insidious era for elections in the country. The West African country, often seen as a pioneer of democracy in the francophone region of Africa, had a fair share of notorious firsts at Sunday’s election.
According to AllAfrica, the polls officially opened at 7 am on Sunday the 28th of April for verification ahead of the main elections, where citizens were expected to elect members to occupy the 83 seats available in the country’s parliament. However, turnout during the elections reflected a meagre 20 percent of the country’s registered voters.
Voter apathy has been attributed to two major factors linked to recent changes made and implemented by the government. These factors include the shutdown of the country’s access to the internet and strict electoral rules that ensured that the elections went ahead without any major opposition.
Strict Election Guidelines Prevent Opposition from Participating
For a country that escaped decades of authoritarian rule with its early switch to democratic rule, voters who went out to their respective polling units to exercise their civic duties were limited to only two options on the ballot papers, with no opposition candidate in sight.
This is significant because, in the last election for the Benin parliament, voters were allowed to choose their representatives from 20 registered parties. However, a strict electoral code, which was passed and supported by President Patrice Talon, made it impossible for opposition parties to take part in the election.
While the government has claimed that the electoral code was set in place to help streamline political parties in the country, several observers seem to think otherwise, accusing the government of only approving parties with ties and loyalties to the president.
Internet Shutdown
Another major change to its election process put Benin on the list with other African countries such as Egypt, Congo and Sudan, which notoriously cut its citizens’ access to the internet and social media, during the general elections.
Hindering observers and other members of the electorate from communicating with each other during the elections, digital monitoring organization NetBlocks revealed recently that the country’s biggest internet provider, Spacetel, was shut down, while social media apps like Twitter and Facebook were blocked.
This has raised concerns about limiting the monitoring process, which will provide election manipulators with a free ground to influence the results.
