By Oumar Sankare

BAMAKO, Mali (AA) – Benin’s National Autonomous Electoral Commission (CENA) has released provisional results of the Jan. 11, 2026 legislative elections.

According to a decision on Thursday signed by CENA President Sacca Lafia, the Progressive Union for Renewal (UP-R) and the Republican Bloc (BR) were the only parties to meet Electoral Code requirements and will share all 109 seats in the 10th National Assembly.

UP-R won 60 seats — 44 regular seats and 16 reserved for women — after securing 41.15% of valid ballots cast. The Republican Bloc, with 36.64%, won 49 seats, including 41 regular seats and eight reserved for women.

The vote was held at 17,350 polling stations nationwide. Over 2.8 million voters cast ballots out of more than 7.8 million registered voters, putting turnout at 36.73%. About 87,400 ballots were ruled invalid.

The West African country's electoral code requires parties secure 20% in each of the country’s 24 constituencies to qualify for seat allocation.

Despite winning 16.16% of the national vote, the Democrats (LD) failed to meet this threshold in several constituencies, including the 11th constituency, where it received 2.89%, and the 24th with 3.36%. It was thus excluded from parliament.

The FCBE party, with 4.86%, and MOELE-BENIN, with 1.21%, also failed to win seats and lost the benefit of coalition agreements after falling short of the required minimum.

- Key figures elected

The provisional results confirm the election of several senior political figures, including National Assembly speaker Louis Vlavonou of UP-R in the 21st constituency, Joseph Djogbenou of the same party in the 23rd, and Minister of State Abdoulaye Bio Tchane, from BR, in Djougou.

The CENA forwarded the results to the Constitutional Court, which will rule on any disputes and proclaim the final results in the coming days.

If no major legal challenges emerge, the new lawmakers are expected to be sworn in on Feb. 8, the second Sunday of February.

The elections follow reforms introduced since 2019 aimed at streamlining the party system and strengthening institutional stability.

As in the previous legislature, the rules have produced a parliament dominated by parties aligned with the presidential majority, leaving the opposition without representation and turnout at historically low levels — an issue that continues to fuel debate over the inclusiveness of Benin’s political system.