The Democrats in the National Council on March 21 to decide on backing the presidential bid.

Gathered on March 13 in Cotonou, its national coordination announced the holding of a national council on Saturday, March 21, aimed at determining an official position on a possible endorsement of one of the duos in the race.

Excluded from Parliament and municipal councils for the next seven years, weakened by a series of resignations including that of its honorary president Boni Yayi, the party nevertheless refuses to be sidelined. The leaders who met last Friday validated the principle of direct exchanges with presidential candidates who would request them, paving the way for a repositioning strategy three weeks before the poll.

This opening has already produced an initial political signal. The national coordination officially took note of a request for an audience made by Force cauris pour un Bénin émergent.

Nothing has yet been decided following the exchanges that took place between the leaders of the two political formations. The discussions held should be the subject of a detailed report, which will be submitted for consideration by the national council on March 21.

It is at the end of this session that Les Démocrates should clarify their line: to support the duo of the presidential camp led by Romuald Wadagni and Mariam Chabi Talata, or to rally the FCBE ticket led by Paul Hounkpè and Rock Judicaël Hounwanou, or to choose to stay out of the presidential election.

In the absence of a candidate, the party is now playing a decisive political card: its symbolic and activist weight, in a presidential election where every endorsement counts.