Benin's preliminary parliamentary election results suggest continued dominance of the ruling government despite the opposition's breakthrough

Key points

• Event: On 11 January 2023, Benin's Autonomous National Electoral Commission (Commission Électorale Nationale Autonome: CENA) announced the preliminary results of the nationwide parliamentary election held on 8 January 2023
• Significance: The 2023 parliamentary election is the first election in four years that saw the participation of Benin's opposition parties, following a 2019 constitutional amendment that led to the exclusion of the opposition from the 2019 parliamentary and 2021 presidential elections as well as large-scale violence
• Outlook: The frequent amendment of electoral laws and regulations allowing the ruling parties to consolidate power is likely to persist and the oppression of a relatively weaker political opposition is very likely to continue ahead of the 2026 presidential election, contributing to further political instability in Benin

On 11 January 2023, Benin's Autonomous National Electoral Commission (Commission Électorale Nationale Autonome: CENA) announced the preliminary results of the 2023 parliamentary election that was held nationwide on 8 January. Regional and international observers, including the Election Observation Mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS–EOM), said that the election campaign and voting environment were fair and generally peaceful. However, on 12 January, Eric Houndété, the president of the opposition party The Democrats (Les Démocrates: LD), rejected the provisional election results citing electoral fraud and alleged vote buying. Furthermore, the final results of the election published by the country's Constitutional Court on 12 January confirmed the distribution of seats stated in the provisional results. Benin's next parliamentary election will be held in 2026, alongside the country's presidential election, following a 2019 constitutional revision that reduced the term of elected representatives in the National Assembly from four to three years and further extended it to five years to co-ordinate with the presidential term starting in 2026.