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Benin votes for new president with finance minister favored to succeed Talon
Wadagni is favored as voters choose between continuity and change, while jihadist attacks, a failed coup attempt and criticism of shrinking opposition shape the race.
- On Sunday, April 12, 2026, Benin's voters cast ballots to elect a new leader following President Patrice Talon's decade-long tenure, choosing between Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni and opposition leader Paul Hounkpe.
- President Talon, barred from a third term, steps down after a decade marked by 7 percent economic growth but also accusations of stifling dissent, while his chosen successor, Wadagni, seeks to maintain this continuity.
- The main opposition party, The Democrats, failed to field a candidate after missing parliamentary endorsement thresholds, leaving Hounkpe as the sole opposing candidate campaigning on security promises in the north.
- Provisional results are expected on Tuesday, with Wadagni widely considered the favorite due to the ruling coalition's support in a politically charged environment with nearly 8 million eligible voters.
- The new president faces pressure to resolve northern insecurity and manage a constitutional term extension to seven years, while observers like Nelson Baiye Mbu, human rights expert at Civicus, express concern over eroding democratic rights.
100 Articles
100 Articles
Unsurprisingly, the dolphin of the outgoing head of state, Patrice Talon, won the election on Sunday 12 April with 94% of the vote. Little known to Benineses, in a tense geopolitical context and in the face of extreme poverty, the 49-year-old technocrat will have to prove that he is not the clone of his mentor.
Finance minister favoured to succeed Talon as Benin votes in presidential election
Benin voters cast their ballots for the country's next president Sunday, with current Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni expected to win handily over the sole opposition candidate Paul Hounkpè. Results are expected earlier in the week.
The finance minister is regarded as a favorite in a predictable presidential election. Many Benins will probably not go to the election at all.
A few months after an impotent coup attempt, a new president is elected in Benin, West Africa.
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