For the first time in four years, Béninois voters should have a free choice to elect a new legislature in January, The country s constitutional system is starting to work again despite President Patrice Talon s authoritarian instincts. Last month the Constitutional Court ordered the Commission Électorale Nationale Autonome (CENA) to accept a revised list of parliamentary candidates submitted by the strongest opposition force, Les Démocrates and within days the commission complied, issuing the party with a valid registration receipt.
, Sentenced to 20 years in jail on terrorism charges, the outspoken ex-minister Reckya Madougou has been formally removed from the Béninois political scene, as has the respected constitutional scholar Joël Aïvo, sentenced to 10 years for money-laundering and plotting against the state.