Presidential elections in Benin 1991
The presidential elections in Benin in March 1991 were the first presidential elections in the West African state of Benin since 1970 and - after a constitutional referendum last year - the first free elections since the seizure of power and introduction of Leninist Marxist- party system by Mathieu Kérékou 1972. In the first round on 10 March, none of the candidates could win the necessary majority of votes. In the second round on March 24th, only the top two, Nicéphore Soglo and ex-dictator Mathieu Kérékou, competed against each other. While Kérékou was only able to increase his share of the vote by a few percent, Soglo almost doubled his share of the vote compared to the first round and was the clear winner with more than two thirds of all votes cast. The turnout was 56.3% in the first round and a further significant increase of 64.1% in the second round.
These elections were the first in francophone Africa in which an opposition candidate replaced a ruling president in free elections.
Results
| candidate | Political party | First round | Second round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stem | % | be right | % | ||
| Nicéphore Soglo | Union for the Triumph of Democratic Renewal | 419 787 | 36.2 | 881 215 | 67.5 |
| Mathieu Kérékou | "Independently" | 315 079 | 27.2 | 423 501 | 32.5 |
| Albert Tevoedjre | Our common cause | 165 174 | 14.3 | ||
| Bruno Amoussou | Social Democratic Party | 66 053 | 5.7 | ||
| Adrien Houngbédji | Parti du Renouveau Démocratique (Party of Democratic Renewal) | 53 187 | 4.6 | ||
| Moise Mensah | Independently | 39 984 | 3.4 | ||
| Sévérin Adjovi | Liberal Democratic Assembly for National Reconstruction Vivotes | 30, 10 | 2.7 | ||
| Bertin Borna | Independently | 18 578 | 1.6 | ||
| Idelphonse Lemon | Independently | 11 517 | 1.0 | ||
| Assani Fasassi | Independently | 10 393 | 0.9 | ||
| Gatien Houngbédji | Democratic Union for Social and Economic Development | 10 272 | 0.9 | ||
| Robert Dossou | Alliance for Social Democracy | 9 641 | 0.8 | ||
| Thomas Goudou | Creator and manager of freedom and development | 8 041 | 0.7 | ||
| invalid votes | 19 340 | - | 10 417 | - | |
| Total | 1 177 666 | 100 | 1 315 123 | 100 | |
| Source: Nohlen u. a. or rounded: africanelections.tripod.com | |||||
swell
- ↑ D. Nohlen, M. Krennerich, B. Thibaut: Elections in Africa: A data handbook. 1999, ISBN 0-19-829645-2 , p. 94.
- ^ Elections in Benin. In: AFRICAN ELECTIONS DATABASE. (africanelections.tripod.com ; accessed October 11, 2011)
