CHAPTER TWO: HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND CURRENT CHALLENGES __________________________________________________________________________ 2.2 From independent Dahomey to the National Sovereign Conference 56. The years following independence were marked by great political instability, by a series of coups d’état and, consequently, by successive changes in government. The country has known two constitutions, four military coups d’état, and ten civilian and/or military presidents of the republic or heads of state. During this period, no political or military leader held power for more than three years. To remedy this instability, the military leaders of the time instituted a Presidential Council and a ‘revolving’ chairmanship involving three former heads of state or government: Hubert Maga, Justin Tométin Ahomadegbé and Sourou Migan Apithy. 57. On 26 October 1972, Major Mathieu Kérékou put an end to this anachronistic political system through a military coup, the fifth of its kind in the history of independent Benin. From 1974 onwards he introduced Marxist-Leninistinspired policies and in 1975, in order to reduce the political weight of the south, the name ‘Dahomey’ was symbolically abandoned for that of ‘Benin’ – a name inspired by the Bight of Benin (on the Atlantic Ocean), where Cotonou is situated. The name ‘Bight of Benin’ itself probably derives from the Kingdom of Benin which, in the past, covered part of the country and neighbouring Nigeria. 58. Similarly, Kérékou banned voodoo, the traditional religion well entrenched in the south. A new constitution, instituting a single-party regime (the People’s Revolution Party of Benin – PRPB), was promulgated in 1977. In the same year an attempted coup d’état, supported by mercenaries, failed. This further hardened the regime. Three former presidents, imprisoned in 1972, were released in 1981. 59. During the 1980s, the economic situation of Benin continued to decline. In 1987 an economic recovery programme, under the auspices of the IMF, imposed drastic measures on the country: an additional 10% deduction on salaries, a freezing of recruitments, and forced retirements. A new structuraladjustment agreement signed with the IMF in 1989 led to a massive and indefinite strike by students and civil servants, who demanded back payments of salaries and scholarships grants (which had been frozen). 60. Despite the appeasement measures taken by the government (payment of salary arrears, setting up of a human rights commission, amnesty for political prisoners, and formation of a broad-based government), the protest action intensified under the combined influence of the newly formed trade unions and the Communist Party of Dahomey, which had been secretly organising a resistance movement since the 1970s. 61. Corporate claims rapidly led to political criticism of the regime. The movement was further strengthened with the involvement of the Catholic Church, which published a pastoral letter condemning the abuse of power. The police uneasily concealed their discontent, and were divided as to what 46