Benin: Boni Yayi announces that he will finally sit in the senate

The former president of the Republic, Boni Yayi, will finally sit in the Senate. In a message published this Wednesday on his Meta page, he announces that he has decided to exercise his right as a senator, a few months after expressing reservations about the creation of this new institution.

Boni Yayi recalls that when the draft constitutional revision was examined, he had clearly stated that he did not wish to join the Senate. “I had publicly made my position known, clearly indicating that I did not intend to sit within this institution,” he writes.

However, the former head of state explains that the evolving political context has led him to reconsider his position. He particularly mentions the establishment of a Parliament composed of a single political trend and the scarcity of dialogue spaces.

“Our country is facing new institutional realities, notably the establishment of a monochromatic Parliament. Political dialogue frameworks have become virtually non-existent,” he emphasizes.

For Boni Yayi, the Senate can now help recreate a discussion space among political actors. “After careful consideration, it appears that the Senate could be an internal political dialogue framework aimed at voicing the voices and expectations of the people,” he asserts.

The former president of the Democrats indicates that he intends to use the right granted to him by the Constitution. “Under Article 113-3 of the Constitution, I intend to exercise my right as a senator in order to work for the ideal of our common homeland. I am not asking for it; it is the Constitution,” he specifies.

This turnaround comes just a few days before the official installation of the Senate, scheduled for July 30, 2026, in Porto-Novo. As a former president of the Republic, Boni Yayi is a member by right of this new institution created by the constitutional revision of 2025.