Tanks surround the house of the former president of Benin as part of an electoral event

Protesters in Benin erected barricades on fire Wednesday in the street, as soldiers surrounded the house of former President Thomas Boni Yayi after he called for a boycott of the elections.

A few hours after early results showed a record turnout in Sunday's controversial parliamentary polls, tank soldiers were stationed on the main roads leading to Boni Yayi's home in the economic capital, Cotonou.

Opposition leaders, barred from running candidates in Sunday's controversial parliamentary elections, went to the former president's home to show their support.

Police have blocked the streets around the expanded district, according to an AFP journalist.

Elsewhere in the city, protesters erected improvised barriers in lighted tires, while police fired tear gas to repel dispersed protests.

Boni Yayi, who led the West African nation for a decade until his resignation after his second term in 2016, called for the cancellation of Sunday's elections, as well as other leaders.

Many citizens have listened to the call of the opposition to boycott the ballot box, over three quarters of the five million registered voters staying away.

Historical bbad

All the candidates who participated in the April 28 vote came from only two parties, the Republican Bloc and the Progressive Union, both allied with President Patrice Talon.

Later on Tuesday, the president of the electoral commission, Emmanuel Tiando, announced that 22.99% of the registered voters had voted, according to the preliminary results.

Participation has never been less than 50% since the country's democratic transition in 1990.

The two parties loyal to Talon will share the 83 seats in parliament.

The Progressive Union is expected to win 47 seats and the Republican Bloc 36 seats, subject to final official confirmation of the results.

Commission President Tiando said the poll had not taken place in 39 of the country's 546 districts due to "incidents".

Civil society groups reported two deaths in the poll, out of a total of 206 incidents, including clashes and the destruction of election materials.

Protest

Before 1990, Benin was struggling with decades of authoritarian rule. Democracy has led to flourishing political competition: five years ago, voters could choose from 20 parties.

The small West African state has long been considered a model of democracy.

But this year the legislators of the ruling party have adopted a new electoral code. Strict restrictions did not mean a single opposition candidate qualified to participate.

After the vote, Boni Yayi and Nicephore Soglo, president from 1991 to 1996, protested and asked for the vote to be canceled.

"The people demand the return of democracy," Boni Yayi told reporters on Monday, calling on the population to resist the incumbent president. "Talon will walk on our bodies."

The situation has prompted warnings from civil society and rights groups inside and outside Benin.

Before voting, Amnesty International said that a "wave of arbitrary arrests of political activists and journalists, as well as repression of peaceful demonstrations" had reached an "alarming level".