2024-01-28 20:33:28
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– The revelations of MP Assan Séibou, initiator of the bill
-Here is his entire proposal which sets the presidential election in February 2026
Assan Seibou, president of the Republican Bloc parliamentary group
Through a letter dated January 26, 2024, the honorable Assan Séibou, president of the Republican Bloc parliamentary group, tabled a bill revising the constitution. Received on a broadcast by Liberated Beninese, last Saturday January 27, the initiator of this bill explained the real reasons for this revision.
According to his proposal, the new Article 153-2 stipulates that the election of the duo President of the Republic and Vice-President of the Republic be organized on the first Sunday of February of the electoral year. This, to allow the next President of the Republic to seek a majority in parliament to govern. The establishment of this draft revision of the constitution, according to the honorable Assan Séibou, will allow the successor of President Patrice Talon not to exercise his mandate in cohabitation. “We must give the new president who comes the chance to come of age. This once again removes the question of crisis and control of power in a somewhat petty way,” he said. Consequently, the mandate of President Patrice Talon will be shortened for the implementation of this bill since elections must be organized in February 2026. During the broadcast, He Assan Séibou, president of the parliamentary group of the Bloc Républicain revealed that during their recent meeting with the Head of State, the latter categorically abdicated any revision of the constitution which affects the fundamentals, even in his favor and that he will not hesitate to make a sacrifice for that all elections take place in the first half of 2026. “He said that he is not asking for anything and that he will not be with us if we touch the fundamentals,” informed Assan Séibou, indicating the 2026 program and the procedure. “We are going to hold the presidential elections in February 2026, which means that the President of the Republic will be installed in March. In other words, President Talon’s term ends in March so he goes down in March. And there, we will have to postpone the municipal and legislative elections to May so that the deputies can be installed in June. We will have escaped the rainy season and we will then have respected the principle of holding elections within 6 months,” he explained. Regarding the generosity of the Head of State in sacrificing his mandate, the honorable reassures that President Patrice Talon is in good faith and that it is important to pass this bill in order to resolve several problems.
PROPOSED LAW REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION
I – EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
By Law No. 2019-40 of November 7, 2019 revising Law No. 90-32 of December 11, 1990 establishing the Constitution of the Republic of Benin, the legislator established the organization of an electoral year with the aim of the relevant alignment of elections with a view to matching the duration of all elective mandates, cleaning up the rhythm of elections and ensuring the preponderance of political parties of national scope in the devolution of state power.
The provisions provided for this purpose are:
Article 81
« The law fixes the number of members of the National Assembly, the eligibility conditionsthe minimum votes to be collected by the lists of candidates at the national level to be eligible for the allocation of seats, the regime of incompatibilities and the conditions under which vacant seats are filled.
The Constitutional Court rules sovereignly on the validity of the election of deputies ».
Article 153-1 :
“As general elections, legislative and municipal elections are organized simultaneously in the same electoral year, then the election of the President of the Republic.
Only lists having collected a minimum number of votes cast nationally for each election are admitted to the allocation of seats.
This threshold is set by law.”
Article 153-2 :
« The combined legislative and municipal elections are organized on the second Sunday of January of the electoral year.
The deputies elected to the National Assembly take office and are installed on the second Sunday of February of the electoral year.
The elected municipal councilors take office and are installed between the first and third Sunday of February of the electoral year ».
Article 153-3 :
« The election of the duo President of the Republic and Vice-President of the Republic is organized on the second Sunday of April of the electoral year.
A second round of voting is organized, if necessary, on the second Sunday in May.
Under no circumstances can the election of the duo President of the Republic and Vice-President of the Republic be organized simultaneously with the legislative elections and the municipal elections.
In all cases, the elected President of the Republic and Vice-President of the Republic duo takes office and is sworn in on the fourth Sunday of May. ».
Analyse
Article 153-1 paragraph 1 of the Constitution, which establishes the order of elections during the electoral year, fails to specify, with regard to the presidential election, that it is the election of the duo president of the Republic and vice-president of the Republic.
Then, this provision precedes the legislative and municipal elections of that of the duo President of the Republic and Vice-President of the Republic. However, the order thus established, on the one hand, reveals dysfunctions on the practical ground and, on the other hand, affects the nature of the presidential regime.
On the practical ground in fact, the organization of legislative and municipal elections before the election of the duo President of the Republic and Vice-President of the Republic makes it difficult to organize the delivery of sponsorships by the elected officials all proceeding from a same electoral origin. Decision DCC n°24-001 of January 4, 2024 revealed some aspects of the breakdown in equality between the sponsors, so that the high court ordered the National Representation to proceed with the correction of the Electoral Code.
Still on the practical level, if the Constitution confers on national and municipal elected officials the power to sponsor candidates for the election of the duo President of the Republic and Vice-President of the Republic, it is because of their political legitimacy. However, in the current state of the system, certain elected officials would have sponsored having lost the elections or by no longer being candidates in these elections.
The presidential election is the major election in a presidential system because the President of the Republic is the holder of executive power and the keystone of the constitutional regime and the political system. As such, the election of the duo President of the Republic and Vice-President of the Republic should be the spearhead of the political sequences determined by the alignment of elective mandates. The organization of legislative and municipal elections before that of the President of the Republic and Vice-President of the Republic duo is not ideal for the presidential nature of political, economic and social governance.
Finally, the question of the minimum number of votes cast required for theeligibility of lists of candidates for the allocation of seats is addressed in two scattered articles of the constitution. This concerns on the one hand, paragraph 1 of the new article 81, housed under title IV which deals with legislative power and on the other hand, article 153-1, title X-1 new relating to general elections; which does not allow good readability of the Constitution.
In conclusion :
1°) The ideal is to reverse the order of elections in that this inversion restores the preeminence of presidential elections in the electoral cycle. Furthermore, this inversion also constitutes a legislative solution called for by decision DCC n°24-001 of January 4, 2024 rendered by the Constitutional Court, with a view to satisfying not only the principle of equality but also the principle of legitimacy of sponsors in accordance with the spirit of the reform of the party system.
It is for this reason that it is proposed to modify article 153-1 paragraph 1 so that the election of the duo President of the Republic and Vice-President of the Republic is organized before those of the deputies and municipal councilors. .
2°) It is also proposed, for better clarity of the Constitution, to relieve paragraph 1 of article 81 of the question of the conditions of eligibility for sharing of seats. Thus, this question will be generally taken into account by article 153-1 of the new title X-1 relating to general elections.
3°) Consecutively, it is proposed that articles 153-2 and 153-3 which determine the date of the elections be modified in the sense of organizing the election of the duo President of the Republic and Vice-President of the Republic the first Sunday of Februarythe second round of this election could then be organized on fourth Sunday of February and the elected President of the Republic could take office and take the oath the second Sunday in March.
Thanks to this modification, it is also proposed to correct the submission of the Vice-President of the Republic upon taking office and taking the oath which slipped into the fourth and last paragraph of the current wording of the Article 153-3.
Article 153-2 setting the period for the organization of legislative and municipal elections could become the new article 153-3. It is recommended that combined legislative and municipal elections be organized in the electoral year, after the President of the Republic takes office, for better political coordination. Under these conditions, the month of May is proposed, especially as it allows these elections to be organized before the rainy season.
Also, the installation of municipal councils falling under the prerogatives of the administration, it is proposed that it be done under the conditions provided for by law.
Finally, the fear of the third term expressed by part of public opinion is justified. However, it was thought that paragraph 2 of article 42 had definitively spared Benin from such a drift.
This text in fact states that:
“Under no circumstances can anyone, in their lifetime, serve more than two presidential mandates”
The letter of this provision, despite the clear intention of the legislator, is ambiguous and could lead to an interpretation that authorizes a third mandate. It is for this reason that it is proposed to rewrite paragraph 2 of Article 42 as follows:
« In all casesno one can, in his or her life, serve more than two presidential mandates”
It is for the benefit of these observations that I ask you, Mr. President of the National Assembly, to submit this proposal to the National Representation for its study and adoption.
Porto-Novo New on 26 January 2024
Deputy Assan SEIBOU
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