Cyrille LIGAN
A first attempt, a failed attempt. The primary at the FCBE was a real flop. Regarding the timing, it was doubtful. Not that one could not expect much from it given the circumstances and the actors. But it is an issue that requires rigorous preparation; an ambition for which the party has not been able to give itself the means. Indeed, the pale evenings of this primary announced drum beating by the leaders of the party contrast sharply with the hopes instilled, as the bitter failure of this test is resounding.
Undermined by uncertainty, controversy and divisions, the organization of this internal election has finally turned sour. For different reasons, of course. On January 28, 2021, the national executive office split a press release in which it appealed to the Djimba-Hounkpè couple to defend the values of the Cowries in the next presidential election. Feeling ousted, Théophile Yarou, who also feeds presidential dreams, falls from his chair and denounces scandalous arrangements, while the filing of candidacy files begins in early February. On several occasions, the number 2 of the party tried to put down the hopes of the party for the presidential one, urging his comrades partisans to give up any candidacy.
The FCBE would have liked to make the primary an innovative model in Benin, to avoid the scenarios of disappointments and settling of scores that marked the appointment of Lionel Zinsou in 2016 by the party inherited from Yayi. But officials were ill-prepared to enter a primary under unforeseen conditions. The few elected municipal officials of the party whose sponsorship could be taken for granted are also taking a stand. The depth of this discord and the lack of cohesion presage a mortgaged future for the Cowries. There is no doubt that the coming days will be hectic. Because the dissensions on the organization of the primary which led to the designation of the Djimba-Hounkpè duo go beyond the sole perimeter of the pre-campaign.
Initially, the idea of the primary wanted by the party was to designate a candidate able to bring together his political family and the voters of his camp, endowed with popular legitimacy for the presidential election. The bet was risky and the wars of leadership took over as events unfolded. The ego ball with regionalist overtones is not to fix the situation. And if the party manages to survive the presidential election, the wounds will have to heal. Priority tasks, indeed.
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