The UN, AU and ECOWAS called on Thursday for a second postponement of the presidential election scheduled for Sunday in Benin, including claimed by the opposition who claimed that more than one million voters were not registered .
A high level delegation of these three organizations, arrived Thursday in Cotonou to "inquire into the state of preparations for elections," made the announcement after talks with outgoing President Boni Yayi candidate and his main opponents and election officials.
"The delegation expressed its support for a postponement of a few days of the presidential election," said the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations West Africa, Said Djinnit, who read a joint declaration at a briefing.
The panel suggests that the vote be postponed until "a date that is consistent with the deadlines prescribed by the Constitution, including one on the inauguration of President of the Republic set for April 6, 2011.
With the approach of the vote, opposition, unions and civil society organizations have stepped up calls for a postponement, arguing that more than one million voters were not registered in the new electronic electoral register, with about 3.5 million enrolled.
Several demonstrations have taken place and many voters also said they did not always be in possession of their card.
A postponement would, according to the panel UN-AU-ECOWAS, "the finalization of the process of distributing electoral cards, completion of necessary measures by the (electoral commission), the appointment and training of all officers of polling stations' .
In addition to Mr.Djinnit, the delegation includes the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the AU, Ramtane Lamamra and Chairman of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Victor Gbeho.
The first round of presidential elections in the former French colony, originally scheduled on Feb. 27, has already been delayed one week due to delays in compiling the file.
The government has warned that a further postponement could cause a constitutional crisis.
The five-year term expires Boni Yayi on April 6 and the Basic Law provides that his successor is sworn by that date.If no candidate obtains an absolute majority, a sencond round must take place 15 days after the first, a very likely scenario according to observers.
The law also provides that the first round takes place 30 days before the end of the current presidential term, but ways to circumvent these requirements were already being examined Thursday at the parliament in particular.
Fourteen candidates are running for election, to be played mainly between the opponent and Yayi Adrien Houngbedji, who covets the presidency for twenty years. A third man, Abdoulaye Bio Tchane economist, could find themselves kingmaker.
