{"id":31210,"date":"2026-04-09T13:15:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=31210"},"modified":"2026-04-09T13:15:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:15:40","slug":"benin-opposition-struggles-against-ruling-party-ahead-of-elections","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/benin-opposition-struggles-against-ruling-party-ahead-of-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Benin opposition struggles against ruling party ahead of elections\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While opposition parties in Benin can technically meet the requirements to stand, practical and ideological challenges make it difficult for them to mount a strong campaign, says Morgan Assogba Metondji, a Geopolitical Researcher.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Voters will head to the polls this Sunday to choose a successor to outgoing President Patrice Talon, who is stepping down after two terms. Long-serving Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni is widely seen as the front-runner, carrying forward Talon\u2019s reform agenda.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>New rules, including a 20% sponsorship threshold from elected officials, further limit opposition reach, as many officials are aligned with the ruling party. Metondji notes that while reforms provide state funding to all parties, political realities on the ground favour continuity over challengers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He suggests these dynamics make a victory for the opposition unlikely, pointing to a continuation of Talon\u2019s policies under a new leader.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20635,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-31210","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Practical and ideological challenges make it difficult for Benin's opposition to mount a strong campaign","published_date":"2026-04-09 13:15:04","news_description":"Practical and ideological challenges make it difficult for Benin's opposition to mount a strong campaign","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31211,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31210\/revisions\/31211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}