CHAPTER TWO: HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND CURRENT CHALLENGES __________________________________________________________________________ 2000 (19 December) Adoption of two new electoral laws. 2001 (8 March) The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENA) fails to publish the results of the first round of the presidential election of 4 March. It entrusts this responsibility to the constitutional court. 2001 (20 March) Nine of the 25 members of the CENA resign in protest against the conditions under which the second round of the elections were organised. 2001 (24 March) Mathieu Kérékou is re-elected for a second mandate of five years. 2001 (6 April) Mathieu Kérékou is sworn in for his last mandate as president of Benin. 2002 (15 December) Municipal and local elections. 2003 (30 March) Legislative elections. 2006 (5 March) Organisation of the first round of the fourth presidential elections (26 candidates are authorised to participate in the race). 2006 (19 March) Organisation of the second round of the fourth presidential elections. Dr Thomas Boni Yayi is elected president of the republic in the second round. 2006 (6 April) Boni Yayi is sworn in as president. 2007 (31 March) Legislative elections. 2.4 The current dynamic drive and its sluggishness: the strong points and weaknesses of the advent of an emerging Benin 68. Apprehension about the challenges to be met in terms of governance depends, on the one hand, on an analysis of the history of Benin, and on the other, on the nature of the transformation that the country wanted to make given its vision for the future. 69. Under the French colonial system, the coastal countries had clearly defined functions. Apart from supplying raw agricultural and/or mining products to Paris, and providing markets for finished products from the latter, their main function was to provide passage to and from towns in the interior that did not have access to the sea. Benin’s economy was, therefore, structured to accomplish these functions and to provide routes for landlocked countries like Niger, present-day Burkina Faso and part of Mali. The main mission of the politico-administrative machinery was to ensure that this function was effectively performed. The formation of an integrated economic fabric and an integrated economic space at the national level was not a concern of the colonial system. This required a different state machinery, and constitutes both a goal and a challenge for the independent country in the future. 70. The political history presented above shows that Benin’s economic development was achieved in three major stages. The first stage extended from the attainment of independence in 1960 to the 1972 coup d’état. This was the period of the decolonisation crisis or the independent management crisis. The 50