Beninese presidential election, 1996
Encyclopedia
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
.
Soglo alleged fraud, but this was rejected by the Constitutional Court (who had annnulled 22% of the votes in the first round), which confirmed Kérékou's victory. Voter turnout was 87.8% in the first round and 77.1% in the second round.
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
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
Mathieu Kérékou
Mathieu Kérékou, was President of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2006. After seizing power in a military coup, he ruled the country for 17 years, for most of that time under an officially Marxist-Leninist ideology, before he was stripped of his powers by the National Conference of...
, a former military dictator who had come second in the first round, was victorious in the second round, beating incumbent Nicéphore Soglo
Nicéphore Soglo
Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo is a Beninois politician who was Prime Minister of Benin from 1990 to 1991 and President from 1991 to 1996. He has been the Mayor of Cotonou since 2003.-Biography:Soglo was born in Togo...
, 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
Beninese presidential election, 1991
Presidential elections were held in Benin in March 1991, the first such election since 1970. The first round, held on 10 March, saw no candidate receive more than 37% of the vote; the second round on 24 March resulted in Nicéphore Soglo being declared the winner, with almost two-thirds of the vote...
.
Soglo alleged fraud, but this was rejected by the Constitutional Court (who had annnulled 22% of the votes in the first round), which confirmed Kérékou's victory. Voter turnout was 87.8% in the first round and 77.1% in the second round.
Results
| Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
| Nicéphore Soglo Nicéphore Soglo Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo is a Beninois politician who was Prime Minister of Benin from 1990 to 1991 and President from 1991 to 1996. He has been the Mayor of Cotonou since 2003.-Biography:Soglo was born in Togo... |
Renaissance Party of Benin Benin Rebirth Party The Benin Rebirth Party is an oppositional, more or less liberal party in Benin. The party is led by Nicéphore Soglo, who was President of Benin from 1991 to 1996.... |
596,371 | 35.69 | 904,626 | 47.51 |
| Mathieu Kérékou Mathieu Kérékou Mathieu Kérékou, was President of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2006. After seizing power in a military coup, he ruled the country for 17 years, for most of that time under an officially Marxist-Leninist ideology, before he was stripped of his powers by the National Conference of... |
Independent | 567,084 | 33.94 | 999,453 | 52.49 |
| Adrien Houngbédji Adrien Houngbédji 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 for a second... |
Democratic Renewal Party Democratic Renewal Party (Benin) The Democratic Renewal Party is a political party of Benin led by Adrien Houngbédji. Houngbédji lived in exile for several years, but returned to Benin to take part in the National Conference of 1990. He built up his party largely around other exiled Beninese... |
329,364 | 19.71 | ||
| Bruno Amoussou Bruno Amoussou Bruno Ange-Marie Amoussou is a Beninese politician and President of the Social Democratic Party . He was the President of the National Assembly from April 1995 to April 1999 and Minister of State in charge of Planning and Prospective Development under President Mathieu Kérékou from 1999 to 2005;... |
Social Democratic Party Social Democratic Party (Benin) The Social Democratic Party is a political party in Benin.The PSD was founded in 1990. Running together with the National Union for Solidarity and Progress in the February 1991 parliamentary election, the PSD won 9.8% of the vote and eight out of 64 seats in the National Assembly.The PSD's first... |
129,731 | 7.76 | ||
| Pascal Fontondji | Communist Party of Benin Communist Party of Benin The Communist Party of Benin is a political party in Benin. PCB was founded in 1977 by the Union of Communists of Dahomey. The party was initially called Communist Party of Dahomey . The first secretary of the party is Pascal Fantodji... |
17,977 | 1.08 | ||
| Lionel Agbo | Independent | 15,418 | 0.92 | ||
| Léandre Djagoué | Indepdendent | 15,079 | 0.90 | ||
| Invalid votes | 540,653 | ||||
| 54,776 | |||||
| Total | 2,211,677 | 100 | 1,958,855 | 100 | |
| Source: Nohlen et al | |||||