Public mediator: Parliament initiates a reform that dampens Pascal Essou’s succession ambitions.
As the mandate of the Republic Mediator, Pascal Essou, comes to an end, political behind-the-scenes are already buzzing around his succession. Many were the candidates eyeing this strategic position of regulation between citizens and public administration.
However, a surprise reform currently under consideration at the Governors’ Palace in Porto-Novo could put an end to all ambitions. Indeed, the National Assembly will officially launch this Friday the emergency examination of an amendment to the law establishing the Republic Mediator.
According to information reported by the newspaper Dynamisme Info, the major change envisaged involves directly assigning this role to the vice-president of the Economic and Social Council (CES). If this option is validated by the deputies, there will no longer be an exclusive appointment at the head of the institution: the position would become a default assignment attached to another state institution.
To justify this merger, the supporters of the text emphasize budgetary arguments, insisting on the need to rationalize state resources and reduce public operating expenses. However, this explanation raises skepticism among several political analysts.
The latter point out a contradiction with the general trend of recent years, characterized by the strengthening of staff in certain administrative structures and the creation of positions whose competencies sometimes overlap, such as the body of ministerial advisers.
One thing remains clear: if this reform is passed as is by parliament, the position of Republic Mediator will lose its institutional autonomy. A decision that will definitively dash the hopes of all those who aspired to succeed Pascal Essou.
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