In Benin, the opposition party Les Démocrates is in no rush to nominate its duo of candidates for the April 12, 2026, presidential election. The political party launched a call for applications at the end of September to choose its presidential ticket. Applicants had until Saturday, October 4, to submit their applications.

Thirty-four applications were finally registered at the end of this first phase.

White smoke is expected to come out next Saturday

Since yesterday, Monday, October 6, the candidate pair's selection committee has been hard at work. Its mission is to organize individual interviews with each applicant. At the end of these interviews, it will submit its findings to the party's National Council, which will then be responsible for selecting the successful candidates.

According to the national communications secretary of the Democrats, Guy Dossou Mitokpè, the white smoke is expected to appear on Saturday, October 11. According to the timetable of the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA), presidential candidacies must be submitted by October 14, 2025 at the latest.

Éric Houdété, Nourou Dine Saka Saley, Éric Adja …

Among the candidates for a place on the Democratic presidential ticket are legal consultant Nourou Dine Saka Saley, the party's first vice-president Éric Houndété, MP Kamel Oussagari, Martin Abou, international civil servant Éric Adja and former ECOWAS commissioner Daniel Edah.

These are the most well-known figures on the list of 34 candidates. One of them could well be the next challenger to Patrice Talon's runner-up, Romuald Wadagni.