The closing speech delivered by the President Mathieu KEREKOU
ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1990 AFTER ALBRET TEVOEDJRE HAD RELEASED THE REPORT ON THE OUTCOME THE CONFERENCE, THE HEAD OF STATE, THE PRESIDENT MATHIEU KEREKOU IN A HIGHLY TENSED ATMOSPHERE, STATED HIS SPEECH IN THESE WORDS:
Firmly resolved to fulfill the essential requirements of the new history of our young nation, and to promote a genuine renew democratic era that can ensure the happy combination of all possibilities and all the creative energies of our people, to stem the crisis and ensure the recovery of the national economy through the implementation of our victorious Structural Adjustment Program, we take all our responsibilities knowingly by inviting representatives of all the forces of our country, regardless of their political tendencies at a national conference to set through dialogue, consultation and consensus a framework for a consistent and constructive dynamic up to the legitimate and profound aspirations of the beninese people as a whole.
Nine days, day and night, the sound echoes of your broad and deep debate broadcast live on our radio and TV stations have allowed the national, african and international communities to be aware of the concerns and solutions advocated by one another in this room.
In this sitting of the official closure of the national conference, we would like to thank and congratulate all the delegates who have spared neither their strengths nor their health to ensure that the deadlock is avoided and that the expectations of Benin’s people are not disappointed. Also we would like to tell you once again how much we appreciate the enthusiasm with which you have massively responded to our call and the zeal with which you have worked continuously for nine days and often late into the night. We would also like to congratulate especially our Presidium and especially the pious man who presided over your work, His Excellency Archbishop Isidore de SOUZA here. We pay a heartfelt tribute to his courage, his patience, sensitivity and firmness, and especially for his insight and foresight, all qualities rare among the common people, qualities with which he was able to manage all the contradictions concentrated within the conference. All thanks go also to all former presidents that we do not, as far as I am concerned, as delegates to the conference, but our guests.
The renew democratic era, whose foundations you have laid down spent at the conference, paves the way for a new legitimacy in our country, Benin.
‘To govern is to plan’, someone else said . And that’s why launching the start of the conference, Monday 19 February 1990, we said that we were fully aware of the consequences and all the implications that follow from your work. We are not surprised and we are calm because we knew it was going to happen the way it has happened, but in a more respectful way than what we had experienced at certain times. Thank God, the solution was found thanks to the chairman of the presidium.
Today Wednesday 28 February 1990, we call on the entire people of Benin to bear witness to us and affirm our commitment to implement in a realistic manner, all decisions taken at the National Conference of the Active Forces of the Nation.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, for the sake of the nation and the beninese people as a whole, we say that the decisions taken by the conference will be applied in the order and discipline freely consented. This is not defeatism, it is not capitulation, it is a matter of national responsibility.
