Benin - Militaro-Marxist
The militant-Marxist period began with the coup that brought to power Major Mathieu Kerekou as the head of a regime professing strict Marxist-Leninist principles. On 30 November 1975, Dahomey took the denomination of “Popular Republic of Benin” (RPB) following the initiative of the military government headed by Colonel Kérékou.
In 1975, the military government made decisive strategic and ideological choices. The Republic of Dahomey was renamed the People's Republic of Benin. It proclaimed its adherence to the socialist economy of Marxist-Leninist orientation. The country was draped with a dictatorial cape. Several opponents were murdered, tortured and exiled.
Mathieu Kérékou banished the ex-presidents, and instated a Marxist form of government that was to subvert ethno- regional political concerns to the public good. During the period of Kérékou’s rule from 1974 to democratization in 1990, national legislative representatives were chosen according to professional interests, including farmers, artisans, and the military, and these representatives cast their votes for successive Kérékou reelections. Ethnic political considerations may have been muted in this period, but they did not disappear.
In an ideologically updated version of the centralized state so familiar to his countrymen, Kerekou concentrated all political and economic power in the presidency and politburo. All other political activity was outlawed, and most private and semi-private enterprises were fully nationalized. This period seems to have solidified a pattern of de-mobilization on the part of independent civil society in Benin and also continued to contribute to a sense of cynicism regarding the state and civic involvement on the part of large sectors of the population.
During this period, under President Kérékou, Benin was a Marxist-Leninist state. With financial assistance from its Eastern Bloc allies, the Kerekou regime undertook an ambitious expansion of the state into all areas of the country, reinforcing the legacy of centralized national government and the top-down tutelage based system of direct rule inherited from the French. As the years passed, Kerekou's political and economic structures became increasingly dysfunctional, and an environment of rampant corruption developed and spread throughout the bureaucracy that controlled the country.
After 1972 several things happened that reduced political instability in Dahomey. First, the three major political leaders had been excluded from the government and from the political scene in general. This act terminated the long standing pattern of political competition. Secondly, the sense of discontent was reduced by radical structural changes (such as nationalization of enterprises), promises and slogans. Thirdly, the source of the undesirable political, social and economic situation was diverted away from the government to foreign elements (imperialism, the former coloniser, discredited nationals in self-exile in foreign lands).
This period was politically stable only in the sense that the President Kerekou and his regime have not been replaced by another leader and another regime. For even during these years there were plots and alleged plots against the regime in 1973, 1975, 1977; violence and demonstrations and disturbances in 1978 and 1981. Tranquility has not reigned in the country for twelve years. Nevertheless, from whatever perspective outsiders may wish to assess the durability of the Kerekou regime, one must take into accont that Beninese perceived these years to be stable vis a vis the turbulent years of the past.
The two other prominent features of the Kerekou regime, alongside political stability, were the military being the source of power, and the prevalence of the Marxist-Leninist ideology since 1974. To the Beninese population at large both features are secondary and tertiary in importance.
Policies pursued in the 1980s led to economic stagnation characterized by significant imbalances, debt, and a severe financial crisis. By 1986, Benin’s health care system ranked among the poorest in Africa. The banking system collapsed in 1988.
In 1989, the system suffered a financial collapse triggered by the demise of the banking sector. In bankruptcy, the state stopped paying wages. As the government's financial situation weakened, civil society and especially independent journalists, though weakened by years of authoritarian rule, became bolder in calling for reforms. Local media began exposing corrupt practices and demanding changes, while other civil society groups, led by the unions and the Catholic Church, called for a full revision of Benin's political and economic structures.
Facing this situation, nourished by the ideologues of the Communist Party of Dahomey, the street growled by demonstrations protest. Disarmed, the military-Marxist junta resigned itself to political, economic and social reforms. On 6 December 1989, Benin abandoned socialism as the ideological orientation of the State and convened a National Conference. Moreover, the political prisoners were amnestied and could return: to participate in these "States General", announced for the month of February.
In December 1989, after 17 years of Marxist regime, President Kérékou announced the renunciation of Marxism-Leninism under the pressure of the populations and the donors.
From 19 to 28 February 1990, was held under the chairmanship of de Souza, archbishop of Cotonou, the “Conference of the Vital Forces of the Nation" which established a transitional government headed by a Prime Minister, Mr. Nicéphore Soglo.
President Kerekou died in July, 2016. He had served as an example to the entire African continent by moving Benin firmly in the direction of democratic governance. During his elected terms as president, he solidified the democratic gains realized by the National Conference and ensured that democracy became a way of life for the Beninese people. He will be remembered for this achievement and for his love of country.
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