The Election Commission says the two parties won all 109 seats in the Legislative Assembly in conjunction with President Patrice Talon.
Published on January 18, 2026
President Patrice Talon’s ruling coalition has taken full control of Benin’s National Assembly Assembly electionsAccording to the provisional results.
The Election Commission said on Saturday night that of the five parties running in the January 11 polls, only the Progressive Union for Renewal and the Republican Bloc – both aligned with Talon – won seats in the assembly.
The Progressive Union for Renewal will have 60 MPs while the Republican Bloc will have 49 MPs.
According to the new electoral code, a party must secure 20 percent of the national vote and 20 percent in each of the 24 electoral districts to qualify for seat allocation.
The main opposition party, the Democrats, won about 16 percent of the vote and failed to reach the threshold.
The results strengthen the presidential bloc’s hand in April’s presidential election, in which the 67-year-old Talon, who has ruled the country for a decade, is barred from running again by term limits.
His chosen successor, Finance Minister Romuald Vadagni, is expected to succeed him. TDemocrats, meanwhile, are barred from running for president after failing to collect enough signatures to register.
The same rule excluded them from the local elections held alongside the assembly elections held last week.
“These results vindicate a struggle the (Democrats) party has been fighting for nearly two years,” said Guy Mitokpe, a spokesman for the Democrats, according to the Associated Press news agency.
“We protested this electoral code, saying it heavily favors parties aligned with the president. It is an exclusionary electoral code. As proof, we will not have a candidate in the presidential election and we are excluded from municipal elections.”
Voter turnout in last weekend’s elections was 36.7 percent, officials said, compared to 37 percent in the last assembly elections in 2023.
Assembly polls took place a few weeks later A deadly military coup attempt Officials announced that Talon’s takedown, which had been going on for several hours on December 7, had failed.
Under constitutional amendments in November, the presidential term was extended to seven years with a two-term limit.