Vote counting started in Benin on Sunday in a presidential election that was marred by violence and boycotted by some opposition parties in objection to President Patrice Talon’s quest for a second five-year term, reported Reuters.
The 62-year-old Talon, who was first elected president in 2016, is facing two rivals, Alassane Soumanou and Corentin Kohoue.
The opposition candidates have accused Talon, a multi-millionaire cotton magnate, of undermining Benin’s standing as one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.
A group of civil society organizations monitoring the election said in a statement that the voter turnout was comparatively low than previous elections, and there were widespread problems in identifying or registering voters.
“Incidents such as ballot-box stuffing, sequestration of observers, and intimidation of voters were recorded almost everywhere,” said the Electoral Platform of Civil Society Organisations of Benin.
In the run-up to the election, there have been protests across the country over President Talon’s broken promise to serve only one term in office and changes that he pushed through to election laws, which resulted in total control of parliament by the president’s supporters and the exclusion of leading opponents from the presidential race.
Last week, protests in several cities turned violent and left at least two people dead. Some people were killed in gunfire on Thursday in the central town of Bante when security forces fired warning shots.
After casting his vote in Cotonou, Talon said Benin was “writing another page in its history despite the intimidation”.
“There are people who have mobilized fighters to attack the republic. Police officers have been attacked with weapons of war. It is regrettable,” he said.
Benin, which is home to about 12 million people, became Africa’s top cotton exporter in 2018.
The provisional results of the first round of the election are expected by April 13.
