The pre-electoral mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Saturday invited Beninese politicians to dialogue in anticipation of the 11 April presidential election.
“The mission urges all socio-political actors to dialogue to create conditions conducive to holding credible and inclusive elections and strengthening the climate of peace in the country,” said a statement issued at the end of the mission, led by Shirley Ayokor Botchway, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana and chairperson of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers.
The mission, which visited Benin from 11 to 12 February to exchange views with key Beninese stakeholders to assess the level of preparedness of institutions and socio-political actors for an inclusive, transparent, credible and peaceful presidential election.
The ECOWAS delegation, which was informed of the attempted attack on one of the candidates and the ongoing investigations, encouraged the authorities to pursue these investigations to establish the facts and possibly punish the perpetrators.
It called on all parties to avoid hate speech that could incite violence and create a climate of tension.
The delegation, whose mission ended on Friday, renewed the sub-regional institution’s support to the people and authorities of the country and announced the deployment of the election observation mission for the coming days.
PANA
