BENIN: OPPOSITION PARTIES TIGHTEN GRIP ON PRESIDENT YAYI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COTONOU 000622 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/W LONDON FOR PETER LORD PARIS FOR BKANEDA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KMCA BN SUBJECT: BENIN: OPPOSITION PARTIES TIGHTEN GRIP ON PRESIDENT YAYI COTONOU 00000622 001.2 OF 002 REFTEL: A) COTONOU 617, B) COTONOU 450 and previous ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: To encourage participation of opposition parties in his government, President Yayi has held extensive talks with their leaders. These include the Renaissance of Benin (RB),the Social Democracy Party (PSD),the Party for Democratic Renewal (PRD),the African Movement for Democracy and Progress (MADEP) and the group of 13 dissident members of the presidential majority (G13). This effort has failed. The parties have issued a joint statement declining the offer to join Boni Yayi's government, ostensibly waiting until a consensus is reached for solving a number of current social and economic problems (Ref A). This recent development hampers President Yayi's effort to recapture the majority at the National Assembly. END SUMMARY. -------------- President Yayi Meets with Political Leaders -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On August 2008, President Yayi held extensive talks with "opposition" leaders including former president Nicephore Soglo, honorary president of RB, Sefou Fagbohoun (MADEP),Issifou Saley (G13) and Bruno Amoussou (PSD). He also met with former presidents Emile Derlin Zinsou and Mathieu Kerekou. The stated objective of the visits was to negotiate ministerial portfolio allotments. He also wanted to send a strong message of political openness to the public. Comment: Post reported separately on conditions allegedly put forward by the "opposition parties" during these meetings, which President Yayi said to have declined (Ref. A) End comment. Though the opposition remained publicly silent over the outcome of the consultations with President Yayi, the unusual presence of G13 leaders at a government groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a flyover in Cotonou sparked off a debate over possible cooperation between president Yayi and the opposition. A close relative of Bruno Amoussou, the leader of PSD, told Post that PSD regarded the one-on-one meetings that President Yayi initiated with opposition leaders as an attempt to undermine the cohesion of the opposition as a whole. -------------- Opposition Declines President Yayi's Offer -------------- ¶3. (U) On September 04, the G4 (consisting of the RB, the PSD, the PRD and the MADEP),the G13, and the Key Force party issued a joint statement in response to the invitation of President Yayi to participate in the formation of a new government. In the statement, these parties underscored 12 actions that President Yayi's government must take before they would enter the government. These included measures to tackle issues pertaining to the high cost of living, management of public finance, operational efficiency of the National Assembly and local authority, improvement of the electoral system, a constitutional review, stimulation of the public sector, improvement of workers' living condition and strengthening of national unity. The opposition made it clear that there would be no power sharing with President Yayi without a consensus for addressing the problems cited in the announcement. Many observers view the political opposition's flat refusal to cooperate with President Yayi as contradictory to its own earlier criticism of the Yayi government since some of the friction between them stemmed from his alleged propensity to exclude the opposition from the corridors of power. The statement released by the 5 main political parties and groups associated with the National Assembly opposition majority (initiated by Bruno Amoussou) appears to be a concerted effort to stand firm against President Yayi. -------------- Opposition Parties' Agenda -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The 5 opposition political parties and alliances in the National Assembly have different interests. The Renaissance of Benin (RB),the Social Democracy Party (PSD),the Party for Democratic Renewal (PRD) and the Key Force party ran against President Yayi in the March 2006 presidential election. They may well nourish presidential ambitions for 2011, with the exception of Bruno Amoussou, the leader of the PSD, who is constrained by the age limit of 70 for presidential contenders stipulated in the Constitution. The PRD's Adrien Houngbedji, who came second in the 2006 presidential runoff, will probably run in the 2011 presidential elections. The leader of the dynamic Key Force party, Lazare Sehoueto, does not conceal his presidential ambition. After his son, Lehadi Soglo, failed in the 2006 presidential election, Nicephore Soglo, Honorary President of RB and current Mayor of Cotonou, will likely again support the candidacy of his son for COTONOU 00000622 002.2 OF 002 ¶2011. Soglo also wants to get the effective transfer of powers to his commune to ensure financial autonomy. Most of the members of MADEP, headed by Sefou Fagbohoun, and the G13 members are rich businessmen who seek political power to boost their business interests, but have no presidential ambitions. ¶5. (SBU) As a result of the divergence of interests among opposition parties, internal dissension often impedes their cohesion of purpose and action. On September 22, the press announced the defection of two RB deputies, namely Yacoubou Malehossou and Zepherin Kindjanhouande, who seek to create their own party, allegedly in order to support Yayi's FCBE. On September 23, talking to the press, Malehossou recognized that Kindjanhounde had asked him to join in forming a party that would use the name of late President Justin Ahomadegbe's Democratic Union of Dahomey (UDD). Malehossou said that he refused to join the initiative, because he wanted to remain loyal to the RB. -------------- Impasse in the National Assembly -------------- ¶6. (U) As a result of the current political turmoil, the 47 opposition deputies continue to delay the adoption of practically all legislation, including important legal reforms essential for MCA-Benin's Access to Justice and Access to Land programs, although the deputies reportedly may consider it extraordinarily. On September 16, the deputies from the G4, G13 and Force Key boycotted the plenary session that was to focus on the National Assembly's 2009 draft budget. In addition, the planned dismissal of the president of the National Assembly remains on the agenda of the opposition deputies. ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: The move to appease the contentious opposition by welcoming it into the government has failed. The opposition's increasing pressure on President Yayi aims to make him commit political blunders that would diminish his popularity. President Yayi took a political risk by inviting opposition members into his government who do not share his good governance convictions. Post sees President Yayi's perceived failure to negotiate with the opposition as his commitment to a good governance agenda that does not appear to be that of the opposition (Ref A). This is a crucial moment for Benin. President Yayi is under enormous pressure to renounce key elements of his anti-corruption policy in the interest of moving the country out of the current political dead-lock. Ironically, some of the pressure stems from major donors who are among his strongest anti-corruption supporters but need action in the National Assembly to advance their programs. If President Yayi can move the country out of the political log-jam without caving in to the demands of the political "old order" associated with large scale corruption, he will have rendered his country a lasting service. END COMMENT. BROWN