The Republic of Benin was formed in 1960 when the colony of French Dahomey gained independence from France. Prior to this, the area that is now the Republic of Benin was divided largely between two coastal kingdoms, Dahomey and Porto-Novo, and a large area of various tribes in the north. The French assembled these various groups together into the colony of French Dahomey, which was part of the various colonies of French West Africa from 1904 until 1960. In the independence era, the republic was extremely unstable for the first decade and a half of existence, with multiple governments and multiple military coups. In 1972, Mathieu Kérékou led a military coup deposing the Presidential Council and appointing himself as the head of state, a position he held until 1991 when the country returned to multiparty elections. Since that point, the state has held multiple presidential and legislative elections and a number of different parties have become important.
The Politics of Benin take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, wherein the President of Benin is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the legislature. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The current political system is derived from the 1990 Constitution of Benin and the subsequent transition to democracy in 1991. The Economist Intelligence Unit has rated Benin as "hybrid regime" in 2016.
The Action Front for Renewal and Development is a political party in Benin.
Antoine Idji Kolawolé is a Beninese politician. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Benin from 1998 to 2003 and the President of the National Assembly from 2003 to 2007.
Elections in Benin take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy and a presidential system. Both the President and the National Assembly are directly elected by voters, with elections organised by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA).
Bruno Ange-Marie Amoussou is a Beninese politician who was President of the National Assembly of Benin from 1995 to 1999 and Minister of State for Planning and Prospective Development under President Mathieu Kérékou from 1999 to 2005. He is currently a Deputy in the National Assembly. As the long-time leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Amoussou stood as a presidential candidate in 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006.
The Social Democratic Party is a political party in Benin.
Adrien Houngbédji is a Beninese politician and the leader of the Democratic Renewal Party, one of Benin's main political parties. He was President of the National Assembly of Benin from 1991 to 1995, Prime Minister of Benin from 1996 to 1998, and President of the National Assembly again from 1999 to 2003. Beginning in 1991, he stood repeatedly as a presidential candidate; he placed second in 2006, but was heavily defeated by Yayi Boni in a second round of voting. Since 2015, he has served for a third time as President of the National Assembly.
Thomas Boni Yayi is a Beninese banker and politician who was President of Benin from 2006 to 2016. He took office after winning the March 2006 presidential election and was re-elected to a second term in March 2011. He also served as the Chairperson of the African Union from 29 January 2012 to 27 January 2013.
Presidential elections were held in Benin on 5 March 2006. Long-time president Mathieu Kérékou was barred from running again by a two-term limit and an age limit of 70 years for candidates; in July 2005 he signalled that he would not seek to change the constitution, as has been done in some other African countries, so that he could run again. Kérékou's long-time rival Nicéphore Soglo was also barred from standing due to his age. With both of the men who had been the country's leading political figures for many years unable to contest the election, it had a level of openness and unpredictability that is uncommon to African presidential elections. Since no candidate won a majority, a second round was held between the two leading candidates on 19 March; Yayi Boni won the election and took office in April.
The People's Republic of Benin was a socialist state located in the Gulf of Guinea on the African continent, which would become present-day Benin. The People's Republic was established on 30 November 1975, after the 1972 coup d'état in the Republic of Dahomey. It effectively lasted until 1 March 1990, with the adoption of a new constitution, and the abolition of Marxism-Leninism in the nation in 1989.
Lazare Maurice Sèhouéto is a Beninese politician. Under President Mathieu Kérékou, he served as Minister of Commerce, Industry, Community Development, and the Promotion of Employment from May 2001 to June 2003, and as Minister of Agriculture, Husbandry, and Fishing from June 2003 to February 2005. He was one of five Force Clé candidates elected to the National Assembly in the March 2003 parliamentary election. He was the candidate of the Movement for the People's Alternative in the March 2006 presidential election, taking sixth place with 2.04% of the vote. In the 2007 parliamentary election he was one of four Force Clé candidates to be elected.
Kamarou Fassassi was a Beninese politician.
Daniel Tawéma is a Beninese politician. During the regime of Mathieu Kérékou, he became Deputy Director of the Civil Cabinet in April 1979 and served as Director of the Cabinet from 1983 to 1989. From August 1989 to March 1990, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Tawéma was a member of the National Assembly of Benin from 1991 to 1995. He was a founding member of the Action Front for Renewal and Development (FARD-Alafia) in 1994. During Kérékou's second period in office, Tawéma was Minister of the Interior from 1998 to February 2005. In February 2004, he was elected as the secretary general of FARD-Alafia, succeeding Jerome Sacca Kina Guezere. In December 2005, Tawéma was designated as his party's candidate for the March 2006 presidential election. In the election, he received 12th place and 0.60% of the vote.
Presidential elections were held in Benin in March 1991, the first direct presidential elections since 1970. Elections under the military regime of Mathieu Kérékou had been indirect, with the president chosen by the National Assembly.
Presidential elections were held in Benin in March 1996. The first round, held on 3 March, saw no candidate gain over 50% of the vote, resulting in a second round held on 18 March. Mathieu Kérékou, a former military dictator who had come second in the first round, was victorious in the second round, beating incumbent Nicéphore Soglo, after gaining the backing of the third- and fourth-placed candidates. Kérékou received very strong support from northern voters, but he also improved his performance in the south compared to the 1991 election.
The following lists events that happened during 2006 in Benin.
