COTONOU, Benin
Citizens of Benin began casting ballots Sunday morning -- two years behind schedule -- to elect the country’s municipal and regional councilors.
Elections for the heads of the country's 77 municipalities were initially scheduled to be held in 2013. The polls were postponed, however, by the authorities, who refrained at the time from giving a reason for the decision.
"After several postponements, we’ll finally elect our leaders," Gbodje Womey, who was the first to cast a ballot at a polling station in southern Benin’s city of Abomey, told Anadolu Agency.
"This is an expression of democracy," the voter asserted.
"They [elected leaders] will be responsible for implementing Benin's development policy at the local level," Womey added. "And this requires the population’s involvement."
Sunday’s one-day poll will see Benin’s roughly 4.4 million registered voters cast ballots at 7,908 polling centers across the country to elect 1,199 municipal and regional councillors.
Police officers could be seen at polling stations to ensure the voting ran smoothly, while local and international observers were also present.
Benin is also scheduled to hold presidential elections in 2016.
President Thomas Boni Yayi has said he would not seek a third term in office when his current tenure expires next year.
In April, Benin held parliamentary elections in which Yayi’s ruling party won roughly one third of the seats in the national assembly.
