Editing Politics of Benin (section)

==Development of political system==
[[Image:BoniYayi thumbnail2006.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The President of Benin from 2006 to 2016, [[Yayi Boni]]]]From the 17th century until the colonial period, the Kingdom of [[Dahomey]] (whose borders encompassed more than present day Benin) was ruled by an "Oba". The  [[France|French]] were the colonial power from 1892 to 1960, when independence was finally achieved. Between 1960 and 1972, a series of military coups in Benin (known until 1975 as the Republic of Dahomey) brought about many changes of government. The last of these brought Major [[Mathieu Kérékou]] to power as the head of a regime professing strict [[Marxist]]-[[Leninist]] principles. The Revolutionary Party of the People of Benin (PRPB) remained in complete power until the beginning of the 1990s. Kérékou, encouraged by France and other democratic powers, convened a National Conference that introduced a new democratic constitution and held presidential and legislative elections. Kérékou's principal opponent at the presidential poll, and the ultimate victor, was Prime Minister [[Nicéphore Soglo]]. Supporters of Soglo also secured a majority in the National Assembly.

Thus, Benin was the first African country to successfully complete the transition from [[dictator]]ship to a pluralistic political system. In the second round of National Assembly elections held in March 1995, Soglo's political vehicle, the Parti de la Renaissance du Benin, was the largest single party, but it lacked an overall majority. The success of a party formed by supporters of ex-president Kérékou, who had officially retired from active politics, encouraged him to stand successfully at both the 1996 and 2001 presidential elections.