Wadagni, a political protégé of outgoing President Patrice Talon, takes power facing a spreading insurgency in Benin’s north — and amid sustained criticism that the election’s outcome was shaped by rules that blocked the main opposition leader from competing.
COTONOU, Benin — Benin’s Constitutional Court on Thursday confirmed Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni as the West African country’s president-elect, ratifying his first-round landslide in Sunday’s election in which he received 94.27% of votes against a single opponent.
Voter turnout reached 63.57%, the court said. Opponent Paul Hounkpè received 5.73% of ballots and has five days to file any appeals before the court issues its final ruling, the Associated Press reported.
Wadagni, 49, is a political protégé of outgoing President Patrice Talon, who is leaving office after a decade in power. Analysts had expected a decisive win for Wadagni given Talon’s backing, the Associated Press reported.
A restricted field
Talon has been accused of restricting the opposition ahead of the vote. The main opposition leader, Renaud Agbodjo of the Democrats party, was unable to qualify for the election after failing to secure parliamentary approval required under a new law — one the opposition says was designed to narrow the competitive field.
The result left Hounkpè as Wadagni’s sole competitor on the ballot.
Security challenges ahead
Wadagni will have to confront a growing insurgency in Benin’s northern region, where militant activity spreading from neighboring Sahel countries has intensified in recent years, according to the Associated Press.
Last year, a group of soldiers mounted a failed coup attempt to overthrow Talon, an episode that underscored tensions in the country’s security establishment ahead of the political transition.