Benin: Daniel Edah sends an open letter to Patrice Talon about the constitutional amendment
Former presidential candidate Daniel Edah made public on November 1, 2025 an open letter addressed to the President of the Republic, Patrice Talon.
In this letter he questions the head of state about the draft constitutional revision submitted to the National Assembly, a few months before the 2026 presidential election.
According to Daniel Edah, this initiative, put forward by deputies Aké Natondé and Assan Séïbou, comes in a tense political context, marked by the weakening of the main opposition party Les Démocrates after the resignation of several of its deputies. A situation that, he says, removed the blocking minority that had opposed the previous attempt at constitutional revision.
“The ground now seems favorable to its adoption,” he writes, arguing that this project, filed at the end of the legislature and a few months before the presidential election, is “political and opportunistic.”
Daniel Edah says that, despite being submitted by deputies, this project actually originates from the executive. “No one is fooled; the people, like yourself, know that this revision project is above all yours,” he tells President Talon, while inviting him to prove otherwise.
The former candidate warns about the consequences of such a reform, which he says would bring “institutional instability and legal uncertainty,” likely to “further discourage foreign direct investment.” He also believes that the current term no longer has the “moral legitimacy” to carry out a reform of this magnitude on the eve of elections.
“If this revision seems indispensable to you, then allow the sovereign people to decide by referendum,” Daniel Edah urges, calling it “a gesture of political elegance and respect toward a people who, in 2016, chose you to break with the dictatorship of development.”
The politician warns against any use of force to push the project through, arguing that “no state violence can stop an exasperated, cornered and determined people.” He calls for dialogue and respect for the popular will.
Daniel Edah concludes his letter by urging President Talon to “exercise his authority with restraint” and to “postpone this constitutional revision project” to preserve the peace and stability of the country.
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