Benin – 2026 legislative elections: CENA approves the lists of five political parties
Following a thorough review of the candidacy files submitted for the legislative elections of January 11, 2026, the National Autonomous Electoral Commission (CENA) selected five political parties. The selected political parties were unveiled on Monday, December 1, 2025.
On Monday, December 1, 2025, CENA made public its decision validating the candidate lists for the legislative elections scheduled for January 11, 2026. After technical, legal and administrative analysis of the submitted files, the institution chaired by Sacca Lafia said it found no substantive irregularities.
Decision No. 040/CENA/PT/RAP/DGE/SP states that five parties met the legal and regulatory requirements regarding the conformity and completeness of their files. They are Force Cauris pour un Bénin Émergent (FCBE), Union Progressiste le Renouveau (UP-R), Bloc Républicain (BR), Mouvement des Élites Engagées pour l’Émancipation du Bénin (MOELE-Bénin) and Les Démocrates (LD).
CENA: full compliance of the files
The review was conducted based on reports from technical teams, the physical and digital files provided by each political formation, as well as the deliberations of the Electoral Council during its session of November 27, 2025.
According to the decision, the files of the five parties were thoroughly reviewed. The conformity verification stage revealed no substantial deficiencies. CENA indicates that all elements required by the Electoral Code, the Charter of Political Parties and the texts governing the legislative elections were provided within the prescribed deadlines, from November 15 to 19, 2025.
This validation paves the way for the issuance of final receipts to the parties concerned, in accordance with Article 2 of the decision.