Adrien Houngbédji

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Adrien Houngbédji (born March 5, 1942) is a politician of Benin. A former Prime Minister and President of the National Assembly, he is the leader of the Democratic Renewal Party (Parti de renouveau démocratique, PRD) and was one of the leading candidates for the 2006 presidential election, in which the successor to long-time president Mathieu Kérékou was determined.

Adrien Houngbédji was born in Aplahoué (Benin) in 1942. He earned a Doctorate in Law from the University of Paris in 1967 and graduated the same year from the French National School of Magistrate, first in his class. In 1968 he registered with the bar in Cotonou where he ran a prominent law office. After agreeing to represent an opponent of the Kérékou régime, he was sentenced to death in 1976. A few months later, Houngbédji escaped from prison and was exiled in Gabon, where he again practiced law.

He returned to Benin in 1990 for the National Conference that led the country towards a multi-party democracy. He was elected President of the National Assembly (Speaker of the House) in 1991, serving until 1995.^[1] In that year the PRD, along with other parties opposed to president Nicéphore Soglo, won a majority of seats in the parliamentary election.^[2] Houngbédji supported Kérékou in the second round of the 1996 presidential election^[3] and was then appointed Prime Minister by Kérékou,^[4] serving in that position until May 1998, when Houngbédji resigned and the position of prime minister was eliminated.^[5] After this, Houngbédji and the PRD were part of the opposition in the 1999 parliamentary elections, and the opposition succeeded in winning a majority of seats; Houngbédji was again elected President of the National Assembly, defeating Kérékou's favored candidate Bruno Amoussou,^[6] and he remained in the post until 2003. He was also elected co-president of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in 2001. The PRD is, along with the RB of ex- president Nicéphore Soglo, one of the principal political parties in Benin.

A member of the "Académie des Sciences d’Outre Mer", Houngbédji wrote a book in October, 2005 presenting his political vision of Benin and Africa titled "Il n’y a de richesse que d’hommes" (publisher: éditions l'Archipel).

Houngbédji has run in every presidential election since 1991; he took fifth place, with 4.54% of the vote, in 1991, and he took third place with 19.71% in 1996.^[7] In the 2001 election, he took third place and 12.62% of the vote; along with former president Nicéphore Soglo, who finished second, he refused to participate in a second round because of alleged fraud. Fourth-place candidate Bruno Amoussou therefore faced Kérékou in the second round, and Amoussou lost by a large margin.^[7]^[8]

Houngbédji ran for president again in the 2006 presidential election, and on this occasion an article in the constitution excluding Kérékou and Soglo from the race made Houngbédji a favorite. In the first round, held on March 5, he came in second, with about 24% of the vote according to official results, behind Yayi Boni with about 35%; therefore a run-off between Houngbédji and Boni was held on March 19. Houngbédji lost this round, with Yayi Boni receiving almost 75% of the vote.^[7]

In February 2003, Houngbédji was elected mayor of Benin's administrative capital, Porto Novo, by the city's council.^[9]. However, he never exercised his function of mayor and resigned a couple of days after being elected. Bernard Dossou, a city councilor and member of PRD is now mayor of Porto Novo.