Benin: Third term doubts overshadow Benin vote | Reuters
Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi promised voters and world leaders including Barack Obama he would step down when his second term expires next year but doubts over his pledge are overshadowing Sunday’s parliamentary election. Lawmakers from the president’s ruling alliance, the Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin (FCBE), are trying to focus on jobs, roads and schools in the campaign, but his opponents portray the election as the only way to stop Boni Yayi clinging to power beyond the end of his mandate in 2016. His plans to reform Benin’s constitution – which would introduce a national electoral commission and state auditor to fight graft and ensure democratic elections – have fed the suspicions about the president’s real intentions.