People's Revolutionary Party of Benin
베냉 인민혁명당
The party of the People's Republic of Benin, founded in 1975 by General Mathieu Kérékou and made the sole party by the constitution of 30 November 1975. It professed Marxism–Leninism and carried out nationalisations and agrarian and educational reforms, but amid the economic crisis of the 1980s it abandoned that ideology in 1989 and disappeared in 1990 with the restoration of multi-party politics.
In depth
According to the French source, the People's Revolutionary Party of Benin was created in 1975 with the advent of the regime of Mathieu Kérékou, who had taken power in a military coup, and became the sole party of the People's Republic of Benin under the 1975 constitution, which gave it a very broad role covering "all activities of national social life". The Russian source states that Kérékou was elected chairman of the party's Central Committee at its founding congress in 1976 and held the post throughout.
In the parliamentary elections of 1979, 1984 and 1989 the party was the only one to stand, with lists drawn up under quotas for socio-professional categories. During its fifteen years in power Benin sided with the USSR in the Cold War and, through nationalisations, agrarian, school and university reforms, democratic centralism and a political police, became a dictatorship. By 1986 the economy was in critical condition and the regime, already mocked as "Marxism-Beninism", earned the nickname "laxism-Leninism"; amid human rights abuses including torture of political prisoners, the church and the unions opposed it ever more openly.
Amid the economic and social crisis of 1989 the party had to renounce Marxism–Leninism but remained at the head of the country until 1990. When multi-party politics was restored and a transitional government set up in 1990 the party disappeared, succeeded by the Union of Forces of Progress. Kérékou lost the 1991 presidential election to Nicéphore Soglo before returning to power in 1996.