By Allegresse Sasse
COTONOU: Vote counting began in Benin after an election on Sunday to choose a successor to President Thomas Boni Yayi who is stepping down after two terms, leaving 33 candidates to compete for power in the West African country.
Leading the field is Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou, a former economist and investment banker backed by the outgoing president and the main opposition Democratic Renewal Party.
Boni Yayi’s decision to relinquish power as mandated by law marks him out from leaders in countries such as Burundi, Rwanda and the Congo Republic who have changed the constitution to pave the way for third terms.
Zinsou has promised to restructure the economy, to create more jobs especially for young people, to aid small businesses and improve access to micro-credit.
“I am proud of the conditions in which the campaign took place. It was a campaign without violence and an exercise in democracy,” Zinsou said as he voted in the capital.
Benin produces cotton but its economy is flagging, in part because a fall in oil prices has hit its neighbour Nigeria, a country that is also its largest trading partner. A big choice facing voters was who would best create jobs and improve education.
Polls closed at 4 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) after a day with few reports of logistical difficulties, though there were some complaints that ink used to mark voters’ fingers was not indelible, witnesses said.
Some polling stations in the capital stayed open beyond the set closing time to allow people already in line to cast their ballots.
“It’s a matter of pride for me to have done my duty as a citizen,” said Clarisse Nibime who voted in the capital.
The election reinforces Benin’s credentials as a model of democracy in sub-Saharan Africa. The country became the first to move from dictatorship and single-party rule to multi-party democracy when it held elections in 1991.
“Benin is a big democracy. With my departure our democracy will take one further step forward ... I leave the republic with national unity,” Boni Yayi said as he cast his ballot.
(Additional reporting by Samuel Elijah; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
Reuters
