Benin’s constitutional evolution: key reforms enacted
The recently enacted constitutional framework, expeditiously approved on November 1st, introduces a novel “presidential ticket” system. Under this arrangement, the President of the Republic and a Vice-President will be chosen concurrently through an absolute majority vote across a two-round election process.
Furthermore, the revised charter abolishes capital punishment, establishes the Court of Accounts, and introduces the principle of affirmative action to benefit women in electoral processes.
Legislative mandates for members of parliament are now capped at three terms. Importantly, deputies who previously yielded their seats to alternates, for any given reason, are now permitted to reclaim their original positions.
The existing constraint from the December 11, 1990 constitution, which limits the President of the Republic to two consecutive terms, has been strengthened: no individual may serve more than two presidential terms throughout their entire lifetime.
