Cotonou - Benin went to the polls Sunday in legislative elections seen as a key test for President Thomas Boni Yayi, whom the opposition accuses of planning to try to cling to power after his second term ends next year.
About 4.4 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots to pick 83 lawmakers.
Boni Yayi, who has led the small west African nation since 2006, has announced plans for constitutional reforms aimed at cracking down on corruption by strengthening the justice system.
But the opposition insists the real motive of his constitutional amendment is to scrap a two-term limit on presidential mandates so Boni Yayi can run again in 2016.
"I am not a candidate in this election and I am no longer a candidate for anything," Boni Yayi told reporters after casting his ballot in Benin's commercial capital Cotonou.
The battle over the proposed reforms has shaped Sunday's election in the nation of 10 million.
"The challenge for the ruling party is to have a large majority in the national assembly, which would allow the president to realise consitutional reforms and maybe authorise (his) third term," said Gilles Yabi, a west Africa specialist based in Senegal's capital Dakar.
Nine hours of voting had been scheduled to start at 0600 GMT but polling stations in several districts in Cotonou were still closed at mid-morning because of delays in the distribution of election materials.
The African Union envoy for the election, Mali's former interim president Dioncounda Traore, said he had seen "large crowds", but numerous delays in the polling stations he visited.
The run-up to the election also saw delays in the distribution of voter cards.
AFP
