Cotonou (AFP) - Several hundred people took to the streets of Benin's economic capital on Wednesday to demand the holding of long-delayed local elections postponed over problems with voter registration.
"Enough is enough. (Benin President Thomas) Boni Yayi and his henchmen have to organise elections. Go now and leave us our democracy," shouted one protester in Cotonou.
Local elections -- last held in 2008 and at which Boni Yayi suffered heavy losses -- were due to have been held across the tiny West African state in March 2013 but have been pushed back.
Many of the protesters were dressed in red in a symbol of what they said was their anger at the continued delays but with wider scepticism about the government's motives for the postponement.
Benin's digitised electoral roll system descended into chaos during the last presidential elections in 2011 when more than 1.5 million people could not find their names on the list.
The government in the nation of roughly 10 million people has since been trying to fix the problem but the country's main opposition has suggested it is a delaying tactic to allow Boni Yayi to cling to power.
Parliamentary elections are due to be held next year and for a new president in 2016, with Boni Yayi at the centre of claims that he is looking to change the constitution to secure a third term.
The protesters whistled and blew trumpets, holding banners proclaiming "Viable elections or get out!" and "Too much fraud, too many lies. Stop! We want elections."
"The situation is alarming and we have to demand that the regime respects the constitution and the people who want elections," Lazarre Sehoueto, from Benin's main opposition grouping, told AFP.
Pascal Todjinou, secretary-general of the General Confederation of the Workers of Benin union, said the matter should be dealt with by the country's constitutional court.
People were at the mercy of a system "favourable to the regime of Boni Yayi, who wants to take advantage of the uncertainty to stay in power after 2016," he added.
Credit: Yahoo! News
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