For several months now, the opposition party Les Démocrates has been accusing local authorities and the Republican Police of systematically hindering its activities throughout the country.
With meetings banned, rallies blocked and police intervention, Boni Yayi’s political party denounces a deliberate attempt to muzzle the opposition ahead of the 2026 general elections.
More and more bans
According to the party, this series of bans is being orchestrated by prefects, mayors and the forces of law and order, under various pretexts deemed fallacious. Faced with this situation, Les Démocrates went to court and lodged a complaint against these arbitrary decisions. However, far from weakening, the pressure intensified.
On Saturday March 22, 2025, a new episode exacerbated tensions: the Republican Police intervened in Dassa-Zoumè, in the Collines department, to interrupt a simple citizen training session organized at the party’s departmental headquarters. No authorization was required for the meeting, which was held in a closed area, raising many questions.
“From this point of view, the Rupture regime is looking for arguments of public disorder or a state of siege to extend its mandate and confiscate power beyond 2026.”
The party believes that these restrictions are a sign of the regime’s hardening stance in the run-up to the elections.
A test for Benin’s democracy
These accusations come in a political context where dialogue between government and opposition seems increasingly limited. Is Benin’s democratic framework, often cited as an example in West Africa, eroding? The repeated ban on the activities of an opposition party and the intervention of the forces of law and order in a party headquarters set a worrying precedent.
While the government justifies these measures by the need to maintain public order, observers fear a progressive restriction of political freedoms as 2026 approaches.
All eyes are now on the courts, which will have to rule on the complaint lodged by Les Démocrates. In the meantime, the party promises to continue fighting for its rights, while calling on its militants to show restraint in the face of provocation.