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Benin will vote Sunday for a new parliament, but without a single opposition candidate, while rights groups warn against repression in a country once considered a model of democracy.
At the opening of the polls at 7:00 am (06:00 GMT), voters from the small West African country will select their 83 members of Parliament from two parties allied to President Patrice Talon.
The demonstrations were dispersed by force.
"The wave of arbitrary arrests of political activists and journalists and the crackdown on peaceful protests has reached an alarming level," Amnesty International said.
Election watchdogs decided last month that only the two Allied parties in Talon met more stringent eligibility requirements under the new electoral laws.
Their decision effectively prevented the entire political opposition from nominating candidates.
"This follows the decision of the Electoral Commission to allow only two political parties of the presidential camp to participate in the elections and to exclude all lists of candidates from the opposition," said the researcher. 39, Amnesty, François Patuel.
In the economic capital of Benin, Cotonou, pbad a stream of cars and trucks painted in the colors of both parties, progressives and Republicans.
With the general ban on the manifestations, the reaction seems weak. Even after two former presidents, Nicephorus Soglo and Thomas Boni Yayi, urged people to take to the streets to protest, there was little reaction.
& # 39; In shock & # 39;
Only two parties, both allied with President Patrice Talon, are allowed to participate. By Yanick Folly (AFP / File)
People say that they are "stunned" and "shocked" by the situation.
"The ban on peaceful demonstrations and the detention of those who denounce the exclusion of opposition parties from the legislative elections will only fuel the political turmoil," added Patuel.
Prior to 1991, Benin had experienced decades of authoritarian rule. The transition to democracy has led to flourishing political competition: five years ago, voters could choose from 20 parties for the 83 seats in Parliament.
But this year the legislators of the ruling party have adopted a new electoral code.
Talon, elected in 2016, presents himself as a reformer and a modernist. He defended the electoral code, saying it would bring together the many political parties into simpler blocks.
Critics, however, believe that the rules were too strict and bureaucratic, and that the opposition parties failed to meet all the administrative requirements in time.
Tensions
The two former presidents of Benin, Boni Yayi and Nicephore Soglo, both urged the population to protest the electoral reforms, but few responses were received. By Yanick Folly (AFP / File)
"The goal of the reforms has never been to prevent people from going to elections," said President Wilfried Houngbedji's communications advisor, accusing the opposition of disrespecting the requirements.
Some thought that Talon could postpone the vote, to give the opposition time to meet the new requirements.
But Houngbedji said that it was not under the power of the president.
"By what right can the head of state interrupt an electoral process?" Houngbedji said.
Several international and national observers have abandoned their election monitoring missions.
"All politicians were convinced that we needed to change the electoral code," said Fatoumatou Batoko-Zossou, who heads a coalition of civil society groups. "But that's the way it was done that is the problem."
Several opponents and journalists were arrested or questioned by the police.
Batoko-Zossou worries about unrest, warning of the importance of promoting peace.
"Benin has always been considered a country of peace, we have never known war – but it is not a reason to rest on our laurels," she said.
"After all, we have always been told that our country was a cradle of democracy … and let's look at what is happening today."
The president is however apparently not worried. Polling stations close at 16:00 (15:00 GMT). There is no doubt that the new Parliament will support the Presidency in its entirety.
"The resentment will pbad," said his adviser Houngbedji. "Monday, life will resume its normal course."
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