Beninese presidential election, 2016
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Presidential elections were held in Benin on 6 March 2016, having been delayed by one week due to logistical constraints. Incumbent President Thomas Boni Yayi was at the end of his second presidential term and was constitutionally barred from running for a third. The elections grabbed the interest of many of the country's top businessmen, resulting in over 30 candidates running for the presidency. A second round was held on 20 March, in which businessman Patrice Talon defeated Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou.
During 2015 and 2016 the leaders of some African countries undertook efforts to remain in power after decades of rule; a referendum in Rwanda resulted in Paul Kagame being allowed to remain in power, there was unrest in Burundi over President Pierre Nkurunziza's plans to run for a third term, whilst the long-term presidents of Uganda and the Republic of the Congo ran for office again. However, in West Africa, the long-term president of Burkina Faso was removed from office and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan left office after losing an election.
The body charged with producing the new voter cards failed to live up to their deadlines of distributing cards. This caused the Constitutional Court to first delay the elections by a week, and then make the ruling that old voter cards issued prior to the 2011 elections would also be accepted as the court feared that voters might be disenfranchised.
Campaigning was only permitted for a 15-day period directly before the elections. The Constitutional Court sanctioned a campaign period from 19 February to 4 March 2016.
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