Benin’s constitution: after the court’s favorable opinion, Basile Ahossi asks Talon not to sign the law
Invited by Crystal News, the MP for the 17th electoral constituency, Basile Ahossi, didn’t hide his hostility toward the main innovations introduced by the constitutional revision recently adopted by the National Assembly.
SUMMARY
The parliamentarian expressed his disagreement with provisions such as the “political truce, the creation of a Senate, the introduction of a seven-year presidential term”.
A declared supporter of presidential candidate Romuald Wadagni, Basile Ahossi is openly opposed to the reform pushed by the parliamentary majority. Absent from the chamber during the vote, he says he gave a proxy to his colleague Djima Ogbon, whom he presents as a determined opponent of the regime, affirming he’s convinced that the latter voted against the revision proposal, in line with his instructions.
An ill-timed promulgation
Regarding the promulgation of the text, now legally validated by the Constitutional Court, Basile Ahossi believes the head of state “should not promulgate” the new Constitution.
Asked about the possible impact of the security events of December 7, 2025, he acknowledges that this episode adds to an already unfavorable context, but says it is not, in his view, the main reason for his opposition.
For the second vice-president of the National Assembly, the issue is above all substantive. He questions the very relevance of the revision and criticizes the conditions under which the vote took place.
The power cuts that occurred during the parliamentary session are, in his view, an additional factor that weakens the credibility of the process. He believes this incident “belittles the president of the National Assembly”, Louis Vlavonou, and strengthens the reasons to forgo promulgation.
“I don’t want him to promulgate,” he insists, while acknowledging that the president of the Republic remains free to make his decision. According to him, even though many think the process will run its course, “a man can change at any time,” he adds, referring to a possible change of heart by the head of state.
A national tour strongly criticized
Another point of tension: the presidential movement’s approach after the adoption of the text. Basile Ahossi says he doesn’t understand that the same political actors, after ruling out the referendum option, would launch a national tour to explain the new constitutional provisions to the public.
In his view, the normal procedure would have been to submit the draft in advance to the people, to civil society and to other key stakeholders in order to gather their views.
He instead deplores an initiative he sees as costly and revealing a legitimacy deficit around the reform. According to him, the explanations given during this tour would be poorly understood by the people met.
Comparing this approach to a kind of full-scale political poll, Basile Ahossi calls on leaders of the presidential movement to show courage and loyalty by faithfully reporting to the head of state the reactions gathered on the ground.
According to him, a majority of citizens met would reject the constitutional revision, a finding that, he says, reinforces his persistent opposition to promulgating the text.
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