talon ran as an independent candidate in the march 2016 presidential election. although he finished second to prime minister lionel zinsou of the cowry forces for an emerging benin in the first round of voting, he won the second round with 65% of the vote. his opponent, outgoing prime minister lionel zinsou recognized his defeat the night of the election. speaking on 25 march 2016, talon said that he would "first and foremost tackle constitutional reform", discussing his plan to limit presidents to a single term of five years in order to combat "complacency". he also said that he planned to slash the size of the government from 28 to 16 members.