Benin

National Assembly

Political system
Presidential system
Structure of parliament
Unicameral
IPU membership
Yes
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About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Assemblée nationale (National Assembly)
Chamber name
Assemblée nationale (National Assembly)
Structure & status of parliament
Lower chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
4

Notes: In accordance with article 80 of the 2019 law that amended the Constitution, National Assembly members serve a five-year term instead of four, as previously. However, to organize general elections in 2026, members elected in 2023 will serve a three-year term. Their term will expire on the date when the deputies elected in January 2026 enter into office (see article 208 of the 2019 Electoral Code).

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
1963
from 1981 to 1989
from 1992
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
African Group

Speaker

Official title
President of the National Assembly
Speaker
Gbèhounou Louis Vlavonou (Male)
Date of birth: 1953
Term
18 May 2015
Additional information

Elected on 18 May 2019, re-elected on 12 Feb. 2023.

Speaker terms

No information available

Secretary general

Official title
Secretary General
Secretary General
Mariano Afolabi Ogoutolou (Male)
Term
14 Aug 2019
Notes

Appointed on 14 Aug. 2019.

Members

Statutory number of members
109

Notes:

In accordance with article 144 of the 2019 Electoral Code, the statutory number of members has increased from 83 to 109; 24 of the 109 seats are reserved exclusively for women (art. 144).

Article 80 of the 2019 law that amended the Constitution stipulates that the term of the deputies’ mandates is five years, renewable twice.

Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Directly elected members
109
Current number of members
109
Men
80
Women
29
Percentage of women
26.6%
Statutory number of members per country
109
Population (in thousands)
14,111
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
129,459

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
53.9
(2023-02)
Youngest member
Titilayo Adjai (Female)
Youngest member (years)
31
Oldest member
Cossi Barthélémy Mellon Vidjinnagni (Male)
Oldest member (years)
75
Number of members, by age (2023-02)
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
Male 0 0 3 12 10 32 19 4 0 0 80
Female 0 0 4 7 5 10 3 0 0 0 29
Totals per age interval 0 0 7 19 15 42 22 4 0 0 109
Total <= 45: 26 Total >= 46: 83
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
6.4% 3% 3.7%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
23.9% 14% 10.1%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
Yes
Women
24

Notes: 24 of the 109 seats in the National Assembly are reserved for women (one seat in each of the 24 constituencies across the country).

Sources: Article 144 of the 2019 Electoral Code.

Electoral quota for women
Yes

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 country's 24 constituencies). Article 145 of the 2019 Electoral 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.

Sources:

https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas-database/country?country=24

Articles 144 and 145 of the Law No. 2019-43 of 15 November 2019, establishing the Electoral Code in the Republic of Benin.

Law no. 2019-44 of November 15, 2019 on the public funding of political parties in the Republic of Benin

Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

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Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No