CHAPTER THREE: DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE __________________________________________________________________________ administration and the people. The decentralisation process therefore needs to be taken to the village level. Communication between the local administration and the grass-roots population needs to be improved in order to ensure greater involvement in the implementation of communal development plans, and power needs to be transferred to the communes by the central administration. ii. Conclusions of the CRM 146. Democracy and electoral contests. Self-assessment documents, many other documentary sources (such as the constitution, laws, studies and various reports) and information gathered by the field missions have all helped to show the effectiveness and vitality of democracy in Benin since the National Sovereign Conference of 1990 and the country’s return to a multiparty democracy. 147. The constitution recognises the right of all Beninese citizens to participate in the management of public affairs. Relevant international conventions such as the United Nations Charter (1945), the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948) and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (1981) are all part of the constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. 148. Political parties are recognised by the constitution. They are governed by laws such as the Charter of Political Parties, of 21 February 2001, and the Statute of the Opposition, of 23 November 2001, which gives a framework for the organisation and activities of opposition parties. The opposition comprises all parties, party alliances or groups of political parties that have opinions that differ from those of the ruling party. They may express their ideas in anticipation of a democratic change of power. 149. This body of legislation led to the creation of many political parties – indeed, there are more than 150 officially registered parties. However, the proliferation of political parties has caused democratic dysfunction. Stakeholders have identified and even denounced many flaws in the party system: fictitious membership, lack of credibility of parties, lack of conviction and manifestos, strong ethnocentric and regionalist leanings of political parties, and the existence of many insignificant parties that are only driven by selfish ambitions. The issue of political ‘migration’ should also be condemned, as should the absence of internal democracy. The same goes for the secret financing of parties and their campaigns, the politicisation of public administration, moneymaking and corruption, among others. 150. Political parties that meet the conditions to operate and have at least one MP receive financial aid from the state. However, the absence of systems for public financing and control of party expenditure hampers the efficiency of the democratic process. Indeed, there is a drift towards the ‘privatisation’ of the wealthier parties. This has led to many calls for government to strengthen the legal framework, to apply the provisions of the Charter of Political Parties strictly, and to sanction political parties that do not adhere to the regulations. This would drastically reduce the number of political parties. 75