Editing Politics of Benin (section)

==Elections and political parties==
{{elect|List of political parties in Benin|Elections in Benin}}
During the 2001 presidential elections, alleged irregularities led to a boycott of the run-off poll by the main opposition candidates. The four top-ranking contenders following the first round of presidential elections were Mathieu Kérékou (incumbent) 45.4%, Nicephore Soglo (former president) 27.1%, [[Adrien Houngbédji]] (National Assembly Speaker) 12.6%, and [[Bruno Amoussou]] (Minister of State) 8.6%. The second round balloting, originally scheduled for March 18, 2001, was postponed for days because both Soglo and Houngbédji withdrew, alleging electoral fraud. This left Kérékou to run against his own Minister of State, Amoussou, in what was termed a "friendly match". [[Beninese presidential election, 2006|The next presidential elections]] were held in March 2006; with both Kérékou and Soglo constitutionally unable to stand, political newcomer Yayi Boni was elected, defeating Houngbédji in a second round of voting. Yayi Boni and his parliamentary allies also won the elections of 2011.

Talon ran as an independent candidate in the [[Beninese presidential election, 2016|March 2016 presidential election]]. Although he finished second to Prime Minister [[Lionel Zinsou]] of the [[Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin]] in the first round of voting, he won the second round with 65% of the vote. Talon said that he would "first and foremost tackle constitutional reform", discussing his plan to limit presidents to a single term of five years in order to combat "complacency". He also said that he planned to slash the size of the government from 28 to 16 members.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-benin-election-idUSKCN0WS08X "Newly-elected Benin president aims to reduce presidential terms"], Reuters, 26 March 2016.</ref> He was sworn in on 6 April 2016.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-benin-election-idUSKCN0X31QO "Businessman sworn in as Benin's president"], Reuters, 6 April 2016.</ref> The composition of his government was announced later in the day.