VZCZCXRO5264
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHCO #0101 0790646
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 200646Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY COTONOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0817
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1416
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0429

UNCLAS COTONOU 000101 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W ACOOK 
LONDON FOR PETER LORD 
PARIS FOR BKANEDA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: PRESIDENT YAYI GRANTS FUNDING TO POLITICAL PARTIES 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: On February 25, the Council of Ministers announced 
that CFA 5,000,000 (USD 10,000) per year would be granted to each 
political party for each one of their deputies in the National 
Assembly. With this decision, President Yayi has implemented the 
party financing provision of the 2003 Political Parties Act. 
Deputies and political leaders hailed President Yayi for this step 
towards strengthening multiparty democracy. However, many people 
believe that this funding will likely fuel internal disagreement 
within political parties over how the money is spent and who 
controls the funds. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) On February 25, the Council of Ministers decided to grant CFA 
5,000,000 (USD 10,000) per deputy to political parties represented 
in the National Assembly. This decision implemented Article 40 of 
the February 2003 Act No 2001-2 on Political Parties which provides 
that legally registered political parties that have secured at least 
one seat in the National Assembly shall benefit from a yearly 
financial grant by the government. Qualifying parties will receive 
CFA 5,000,000 times the number of seats they have obtained in the 
National Assembly. The Council of Ministers' report stated that the 
decision reflected the Government of Benin's commitment to gradually 
enforcing existing republican laws and to providing financial 
support to Beninese institutions as Benin achieves economic 
progress. On the announcement of the decision, some newspapers 
mistakenly relayed the information that the government would give 
each deputy 5 million CFA, which led to misinterpretation. 
 
¶3. (U) A few suspicious politicians perceived the decision as an 
attempt to calm the contentious opposition while the majority of 
National Assembly deputies, including opposition deputies, saw  the 
move as President Yayi's support for the role of political parties. 
Additionally, the new measure is expected to reduce deputies' 
propensity to shift from parties that supported their campaign to 
other parties during their terms. Though the funding is intended to 
advance political parties as democratic tools, there is a risk that 
members of political parties, especially deputies, will want to put 
the money into their own pockets, which will create frustration 
within political parties. 
 
¶4. (U) About a dozen individual political parties represented in the 
National Assembly will benefit from the public funding. 
Nevertheless, the case of pro-Yayi coalition Front Cowry for the 
Emergence of Benin (FCBE) raises a concern; because this group is 
made up of various political parties, movements and associations, 
and one can predict that the fund sharing will be problematic. With 
its 35 deputies, FCBE will receive 175 million CFA per year (USD 
350,000), the largest share.  Adrien Houngbedji's Democratic Renewal 
Party-PRD (10 deputies) and Rosine Soglo's Renaissance of Benin (8 
deputies) will benefit from 50 Million CFA (USD 100,000) and 40 
Million CFA (USD 90,000) per year, respectively. The effort will 
cost the public treasury 415 million CFA (USD 830,000) per year. 
 
BROWN