2026 presidential election: the Democrats’ coordinators urge Sodjinou to reconsider his position
Calls are mounting within the party Les Démocrates to persuade MP Michel Sodjinou to return his endorsement form in favor of the duo designated for the 2026 presidential election. After the letter from the party’s first vice‑president, Éric Houndété, it is now the 25 coordinators of the party’s electoral constituencies and university branches who have come forward, in a correspondence dated Thursday, October 16, 2025.
In their letter, the coordinators make an urgent appeal to the MP’s sense of responsibility. They urge him to reverse his decision in order to “preserve the unity of the party and the democratic future of Benin.”
As a reminder, Michel Sodjinou had signed and handed over his endorsement form to the party president, Boni Yayi, on September 2, before requesting its return on October 13, 2025, citing irregularities in the internal process for selecting the presidential ticket. The party’s refusal to comply led the elected official to take the matter to the Cotonou court, which ordered the return of the form under threat of invalidation.
The CENA has since cancelled the initial form and announced that a new one would be issued to the MP. In the meantime, the Les Démocrates duo submitted its candidacy file, incomplete, in the hope of regularizing the situation within the deadline.
The coordinators express their deep concern over this stalemate, arguing that a persistent refusal by the MP could jeopardize the party’s participation in the presidential election. They remind that the sponsorship mechanism should not be “an instrument of exclusion,” but rather a tool for democratic vitality.
While praising Michel Sodjinou’s past commitment, which they describe as that of a “man of conviction and loyalty,” the signatories call on him to “overcome internal disagreements” through dialogue and loyalty, in the higher interest of the party and the Beninese people.
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