Benin holds a vote without a candidate of the opposition

Beninese vote for a new parliament but no one opposition candidate is present.

The electoral authorities decided last month that only two parties – both loyal to President Patrice Talon – fulfilled the conditions to participate.

The new electoral laws oblige a party to pay about $ 424,000 (£ 328,000) to list the 83 seats in Parliament.

Internet access has been restricted with social media and messaging apps stuck in this West African country.

Five million people are registered on the country's electoral roll, considered one of Africa's most stable democracies.

"Feeding the storm"

Human rights defenders criticized the ban and repression of peaceful protests by those who were unhappy with the exclusion of the opposition, as well as the arrests of activists politicians and journalists.

"The growing wave of arrests and detentions in Benin is extremely troubling, especially in the context of the elections," said Francois Patuel, Amnesty International, based in the UK, in a statement.

"The ban on peaceful protests and the detention of those who speak out against the opposition parties' opposition to the legislative elections will only fuel the political turmoil."

Last week, security forces fired tear gas while two former presidents – Nicephore Soglo and Thomas Boni Yayi – had spoken during an impromptu demonstration on elections in the main city of Cotonou.

Five years ago, Beninese voters, who had introduced multi-party elections in the 1990s, could choose from 20 parties for the 83 seats in parliament, reports the AFP news agency.

President Talon, a former businessman known as the "King of Cotton", took office in 2016 with a modernist ticket.

He added that the electoral reforms were aimed at bringing together the country's hundreds of political parties in streamlined blocks.

It also monitored laws prohibiting health workers from striking and limiting strikes by other government officials or agents to 10 days a year.

According to correspondents, many people were waiting for him to postpone the vote in order to give the opposition time to meet the new requirements.

In a national speech on April 11, President Talon said he did not have the power to interfere in the electoral process.

On Sunday morning, voter turnout was slow in Cotonou, AFP said.