[1] The 2016 presidential elections saw the election of Patrice Talon, who won in the second round of voting with nearly double the number of votes than his opponent Lionel Zinsou, Prime Minister running under outgoing president Thomas Boni Yayi's Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin party.

However, this reform was blocked by Parliament, who refused to create the precedent that a president could modify the constitutional terms of his mandate.

The center-left Progressive Union and the centrist Republican Bloc, the two pro-government parties created for the election, won all the seats in parliament, meaning no opposition movements would have a direct voice in legislative matters.

[2][4][5] Two days after the election, Amnesty International released a statement denouncing "the wave of arbitrary arrests of political activists and journalists and the repression of peaceful protests".

[6] The election was also marked by a complete Internet shutdown on the day of the vote, an action criticized by the opposition, civil society and international observers, the level of repression on the part of the government was described as "alarming".

A 2019 revision to the constitution imposed a requirement that candidates need receive the nomination of 10% of the total MPs and mayors (about 16 sponsors).

[19][20] Only six mayors belonging to the Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin make up the opposition, with the party lacking a Member of Parliament.

[25] In April 2021 protests occurred in several Beninese cities in light of Talon's decision to stand for re-election after initially stating he would only serve for one term.

[29] Candidates for the presidency have to be a Beninese citizen, either by birth or from having lived in Benin for the past ten years, be of "good character and great probity", have all their civil and political rights, be between the ages of 40 and 70, and submit to a physical and mental assessment by three doctors sworn in by the Constitutional Court.

[31] Provisional results from the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA) were released on 13 April showing that incumbent president Patrice Talon was re-elected with 86.4% of the vote.