Court rejects electoral commission nominees

Benin’s Constitutional Court has rejected a list of 19 legislators nominated by parliament to sit on the country’s independent electoral commission, AFP reported on Tuesday. The decision of the court, which said the 19 were not representative of the national assembly, came on Tuesday, 10 days after it rejected a first list on similar grounds. Twelve of the nominees came from an opposition coalition that outnumbers the presidential bloc in parliament by 44 seats to 39. The mandate of the 25-member commission will be to organise and supervise presidential elections due in early March. Seven candidates have announced that they will run for president. The incumbent, Matthieu Kerekou, and his predecessor, Nicephore Soglo, have not yet done so, AFP said.