In connection with our conversation on Saturday, May 31, 2025, Gratien-Laurent AHOUANMENOU, the recipient of your referenced letter which was notified to him on May 26, 2025, kindly forwarded it to me; he was entitled to do so as he drafted and disseminated the contested statement in his capacity as Deputy Secretary-General (SGA) of the Parti du Renouveau Démocratique (P.R.D.), of which I am the President. Documents No. 01 and 02.
Indeed, I am surprised by the content of this correspondence, because stating that the P.R.D. ceased to exist as of the date of its merger with the U.P. is completely contrary to reality, given the writings and facts. This is for at least four (04) reasons.
1º The merger agreement on which you rely was signed on August 21, 2022. However, following the signing of this agreement, you issued the P.R.D. its definitive receipt on August 26, 2022. The P.R.D., which existed before the protocol was signed, thus continued to exist afterward. Document No. 03
The request for the definitive receipt was also made by letter on August 24, 2022, after the signing of the protocol.
Thus, you yourself confirmed that the merger did not end the existence of the P.R.D.
2º The protocol of August 21, 2022 was signed pursuant to a resolution of the P.R.D.’s national council dated August 19, 2022. Document No. 04
This resolution explicitly states that the president of the P.R.D. is authorized to sign a merger protocol with the Union Progressiste (U.P.), in accordance with the provisions of articles 90 and 91 of the P.R.D.’s statutes.
These two articles state, in no uncertain terms, that “merger decisions cannot result in the dissolution of the P.R.D., which retains its attributes, its assets, and its functional autonomy, except those conceded. It may form a current within the new entity.” Document No. 05
The merger concluded through a resolution of the national council, therefore, did not result in the disappearance of the P.R.D.
You cannot ignore this since the statutes containing these provisions date from the congress of December 19, 2021; these statutes were regularly communicated to you the day after the congress, well before the merger agreement was signed.
3° The disappearance of the P.R.D. can only result from a dissolution decision taken by an extraordinary congress convened for this purpose, voted by a majority of three-fourths (3/4) of the delegates.
Article 111 of the statutes of December 19, 2021: “The Parti du Renouveau Démocratique, P.R.D., can only be dissolved by an extraordinary congress duly convened… The decision is only taken with a three-fourths (3/4) majority of the congress delegates >”. Document No. 05
However, there has never been a dissolution congress of the P.R.D.
I challenge anyone to produce the minutes of an extraordinary dissolution congress of the P.R.D. The last congress of the P.R.D. dates from December 19, 2021, and the statutes adopted on that occasion were communicated to you as mentioned earlier. So you cannot possibly ignore that the P.R.D. has not been dissolved.
In sum, it was with full knowledge of the facts that on August 26, 2022, you issued the P.R.D. its definitive receipt.
Moreover, the agreement signed on August 21, 2022, between the P.R.D. and the U.P. is titled “merger act >> and not “dissolution act >>; the final paragraph of its preamble also expressly states that the two (02) parties have decided to merge (and not to be dissolved). Document No. 06
It should be noted that the statutes of the U.P also state (art. 142) that the dissolution of the U.P. can only be decided by an extraordinary congress expressly convened and deciding by a three-fourths (3/4) majority. Document No. 07
Article 111 of the P.R.D.’s statutes is therefore not a peculiarity.
4° Under the terms of article 29-9 of law No. 2018-23 of September 17, 2018, on the Charter of Political Parties, the statutes must include the indication of the dissolution mechanism of a political party, or its merger with other political parties. Document No. 08
Both the statutes of the P.R.D. (art. 90, 91, and 111) and the statutes of the U.P. (art 142) contain these indications; they are the same: the dissolution mechanism is a vote by the extraordinary congress with a three-fourths (3/4) majority of the delegates.
The congress is the supreme deliberative body of the Party (art. 30 of the P.R.D. statutes, art. 63 of the U.P. statutes). The dissolution vote for which a qualified majority is required is therefore not a mere administrative formality, but rather a substantive condition to make a dissolution effective and valid.
President DJOGBÉNOU, President of the U.P.R., was expressly tasked with undertaking the administrative procedures consequent to the merger agreement (art. 6 of the protocol). Document No. 09
If there had been a dissolution of the P.R.D. (and of the U.P.), it was up to him to establish it by submitting to the file that he provided you with, the minutes of the two (02) dissolution congresses, as well as the excerpts from the Official Journal in which he published it.
It is clear that Professor DJOGBÉNOU did not provide you with any of these documents. It is sufficient to note that neither the provisional receipt nor the definitive receipt issued to the U.P.R. makes mention of such documents in their references. Documents No. 10 and 11
Professor DJOGBÉNOU thus knew very well that there was no dissolution of the P.R.D.
As for the Ministry of the Interior, it was responsible for carrying out the various studies and analyses to ensure that the file submitted to it complied with the law. It is indeed when the file is deemed to be in accordance with the law that the Minister of the Interior issues the provisional receipt and later the definitive one (art. 19, 20, and 21 new of the law No. 2018 of September 17, 2018).
You judged the documents produced by President DJOGBÉNOU to be complete and compliant with the law.
Neither a dissolution congress minutes of the P.R.D. nor an Official Journal excerpt relating to the alleged dissolution were included.
You expressly and exclusively gave Mr. DJOGBÉNOU “document of the provisional receipt of administrative declaration of merger of the parties U.P. and P.R.D.” Likewise, you expressly and exclusively gave him “document of the definitive receipt of merger of the U.P. and the P.R.D.”
The word << dissolution >> does not appear anywhere on these receipts.
In conclusion, between the reality of the file documents and the terms of your letter accompanied by threats, the disconnect is such that, if I did not know your great integrity, I would have thought of yet another machination to make the P.R.D. pay.
Indeed, I don’t believe it’s possible to decree the non-existence of the P.R.D. by a simple letter, while all the documents prove otherwise.
4* On the very day I became aware of your correspondence (namely, Monday, May 26, 2025), I suggested to President DJOGBÉNOU that we amicably put an end to this imbroglio by revoking the agreement of August 21, 2022, and seeking another form of collaboration between our parties; the electoral law opens possibilities in this respect.
This solution seemed to me the most suitable because almost three (03) years after the signing of the protocol, the U.P.R. continues to operate on the fringes of law No. 2018-23 of September 17, 2018, amended by law No. 2019-41 of November 15, 2019, on the Charter of Political Parties: no constituent congress, no dissolution of its two (02) components, P.R.D. and U.P., no elected leaders, etc., which suggests that the U.P.R. is a mere de facto association incompatible with the requirements of the Charter.
I am willing to seek with President DJOGBÉNOU any other form of collaboration that would comply with the law, recognize the existence of the P.R.D., and secure its interests.
Following the “duplication” episode that led to the disqualification of the P.R.D. in the legislative elections on April 28, 2019, in which its role was pivotal, Professor DJOGBÉNOU cannot this time, under the guise of your letter, make the P.R.D. disappear or paralyze its activities, when it is established that he failed in his obligation to provide you with the documents establishing the supposed dissolution of this party.
Kind regards,
Adrien HOUNGBÉDJI
The President