Benin's president promises to handover power after 2016 polls

Benin's President Boni Yayi said Tuesday in Cotonou that he will handover power in April next year to the winner of the presidential elections whose first round will be held on Feb. 28, 2016, an official source revealed.

"The Beninese people will elect a new president who will guide our country's destiny. I want to reiterate that the Beninese people will, in a peaceful and stable environment, identify and choose the best person who will lead our homeland, Benin," he said.

The president who was speaking during the third edition of political dialogue between Benin and the European Union, said plans to amend the 1990 Constitution had been shelved.

"All that was being said about a hidden agenda in the government's plan to amend the Constitution was false," he said.

Despite the president stating on numerous occasions that he was not trying to amend the Constitution so that he can contest for a third term, the opposition political class and the civil society groups insisted that was his real motive.

The government, on its part, had insisted that the proposed amendments were only meant to promote the rule of law, reinforce the country's democracy and lay solid grounds for Benin's economic development. Enditem