Benin

National Assembly

Political system Political systems: Presidential, Parliamentary, Presidential-Parliamentary, Monarchy, Communist, Transitional.
Presidential system
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Structure of parliament Structure of parliament: Unicameral, bicameral
Unicameral
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IPU membership Current membership status
Yes
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Data on women

empty

Basic information > About parliament

Speaker

Speaker
Gbèhounou Louis Vlavonou (Male)
Year of birth
1953
Additional information
Elected on 18 May 2019, re-elected on 12 Feb. 2023.
See historical data for this field.

Secretary general

Secretary General
Mariano Afolabi Ogoutolou (Male)
Notes Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
Appointed on 14 Aug. 2019.

Members

Current number of members, by sex
Men The number of male parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
80
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Women The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
29
See historical data for this field.
Percentage of women Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
26.61% See historical data for this field.

Age

Average age of all members Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
53.93
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Youngest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
31
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Youngest member
Titilayo Adjai (Female)
Total number of MPs, 45 years of age or younger
25 See historical data for this field.
Total number of MPs, 46 years of age or older
84 See historical data for this field.
Total per sex
Total of male
80 See historical data for this field.
Total of female
29 See historical data for this field.
Total per age interval
18-20
0
21-30
0
31-40
6 See historical data for this field.
41-45
19 See historical data for this field.
46-50
16 See historical data for this field.
51-60
41 See historical data for this field.
61-70
23 See historical data for this field.
71-80
4 See historical data for this field.
81-90
0 See historical data for this field.
91 and over
0
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Totals per age interval 0 0 6 19 16 41 23 4 0 0
Total <= 45: 25 Total >= 46: 84
Male 0 0 3 12 10 31 20 4 0 0 80
Female 0 0 3 7 6 10 3 0 0 0 29
Percentage of members, by age
Age as last election or renewalOverallMaleFemale
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger0%0%0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger5.5%2.75%2.75%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger22.94%13.76%9.17%

Reserved seats and quotas

Number of reserved seats, by group
Women
24
Electoral quota for women Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
Yes
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Notes
In accordance with article 144 of the 2019 Electoral Code, 24 of the 109 seats in the National Assembly are reserved for women (one seat in each of the 24 constituencies across the country).
Article 145 of the Code requires political parties to present their lists of candidates in all electoral constituencies. Each list must include the same number of candidates as there are seats to be filled, including one woman and her substitute, specially presented under the reserved seats section.
Elections > Election results

Candidates

Total number of candidates Total number of people who registered as candidates for election. Does not include people who stood as candidates to become "substitute members".
763
Number of female candidates Number of female candidates
201
Percentage of women candidates The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women candidates by the total number of candidates.
26.34%
Notes
The figures above refer to the titular candidates. There were 228 women out of 763 substitute candidates.
Number of candidates, by sex
Number of female candidates Number of female candidates
201
Percentage of women candidates The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women candidates by the total number of candidates.
26.34%

Results

Members elected, by sex
Number of men elected
81
Number of women elected
28
Percentage of women elected The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women elected in the election and the number of seats at stake at the election.
25.69%
Number of women after election or renewal, by mode of designation
Women Directly Elected
28

New legislature

Total number of men after the election The total number of male parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
81
Total number of women after the election The total number of female parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
28
First Speaker of the new legislature
First Speaker of the new legislature First name of the Speaker of the new legislature following the election or renewal.
Gbèhounou Louis Vlavonou (Male)
Political party
Progressive Union for Renewal
Date of election
12.02.2023
Elections > Historical data on women

Women's suffrage

Date of independence For countries that become independent after 1940
1960
Women’s right to vote
Women’s right to vote Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1960
National or local Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Suffrage: Additional Notes on right of suffrage
Prior to independence, Article 10 of the 1956 framework law gave the right to vote for the territorial assemblies to both sexes over 21. Universal suffrage was first exercised in the 1957 elections. Universal suffrage was confirmed at independence.
Women’s right to stand for election
First woman in parliament
First woman in parliament Year in which first woman entered parliament
1979