Beninese vote on Sunday for new lawmakers with the strong presence of women and young candidates giving voters a sense of fresh start in a poll also marked by the return of the opposition
Sunday’s vote will be a key test for Beninese democracy, once seen as a model in West Africa, as the opposition will look to gain ground in Parliament after they were de facto barred from the 2019 elections.
The majority of key opposition figures are in prison or in exile.
Seven parties, including three claiming to be from the opposition, were finally authorised to take part in the ballot.
“The majority of candidates are barely thirty and the rest under 40,” said Boconon Adihou Gerardo, activist of the Popular Liberation Movement (MPL), opposition party
