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The Togo presidential elections are now due to be held on March 4 following protests from the main opposition parties. The election which was originally set for February 28 has now been delayed until March 4 following opposition protests.

A presidential decree read out on state television announced on Thursday “The date for the presidential election is fixed for Thursday, March 4. Polling stations will be open from 07:00 to 17:00 throughout the country.”

The delay comes in response to a request from the opposition during talks in Burkina Faso with President Blaise Compaore who is mediating inter-Togolese dialogue.

“With the aim of permanently seeking consensus and maintaining a peaceful climate during the electoral process, the head of state (Faure Gnassingbe), in consultation with Compaore, decided during a cabinet meeting to delay the election.”

Campaigning for the presidential election in Togo started on February 16 and will last until March 2, meanwhile Togo’s main opposition parties have quit the commission organising the presidential elections.

President Faure Gnassingbe of the Togolese People’s Rally, Gnassingbé was initially installed as President with support from the army following the death of his father Gnassingbé Eyadéma Doubts, whom was President of Togo from 1967 until his death.

Faure Gnassingbe’s unconstitutional accession was later confirmed by electora1 fraud, when following pressure from neighbouring African nations Faure Gnassingbé, resigned on February 25. He then won a controversial presidential election on April 24 and was sworn in as President again.

The 2005 Presidential election fraud was recorded in the film ‘Masquerade’ which documents the fraudulent presidential elections in the west African state of Togo in 2005, the film was edited and produced by Jaarice in Burkina Faso and released in 2007. The film Masquerade was the subject of a previous Paxmundi.info article here.

http://www.paxmundi.info/2009/02/08/togo-presidential-election-fraud-masquerade/

The opposition candidates in the current Togo Presidential election includes

Yawovi Agboyibo of the Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), The Action Committee for Renewal, the second largest opposition party in Togo, is continuing top aprticipate in the electoral process, although they are “far from being satisfied” with measures taken by the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI).

This decision was announced during a press conference held at the CAR headquarters in Lome in the presence of the party’s National President Dodji Apevon and the party’s presidential candidate, Yawovi Agboyibo.

CAR decided to suspend the participation of its two representatives in CENI and its candidate Agboyibo in the electoral process, saying their demands “for measures that will bring about a free and fair election ” had been rejected.

Hours after the opening of election campaigns on Tuesday, CENI decided to use serialized ballot papers, but said the principle of authentication of ballot papers will be done in the polling centers.

CENI announced, without elaborating, that the outlines of this principle will be defined and transmitted to the electoral clerks within the polling centers during their training.

“CAR is far from being satisfied with these partial solutions and is still waiting for convincing answers to all its demands,” the party said.

Jean-Pierre Fabre of the Union of the Forces of Change (UFC),

Five opposition parties in Togo have agreed to support the candidature of Jean-Pierre Fabre under the umbrella Republican Front for Change in Power (FRAC), which was presented to the media on Wednesday in the Togolese capital, Lome.

Kofi Yamgnane was disqualified from contesting the election, is the new body’s spokesperson. Patrick Lawson, the first deputy-chairman of Union of Forces for Change (UFC), was appointed the campaign manager of the Front.

FRAC comprises the Alliance of Democrats for Integral Development (ADDI) led by AimTchabour Guogu, the Alliance led by Dahuku Pere, the Socialist Pact for Regeneration (PSR) led by Tchessa Abi, Sursaut-Togo led by Kofi Yamgnane and the Union of Forces for Change (UFC) led by veteran politician Gilchrist Olympio.

Olympio was re-elected as National President of the UFC was originally chosen as the party’s candidate for the presidential election.

Bassabi Kagbara of the Pan African Democratic Party (PDP),

Gabriel Messan Agbeyome Kodjo of the Organization to Build Togo in Solidarity (OBUTS)

Jean Nicolas Messan Lawson of the Party of Renewal and Redemption (PRR).

Brigitte Kafui Adjamagbo-Johnson of the African Peoples’ Democratic Convention (CDPA),

Kafui Adjamagbo-Johnson,is Togo’s first female presidential candidate. But she has also withdrawn from the electoral process.

The current Togo Presidential elections

the current Presidential election will be decided in a single round of voting; the candidate with the highest number of votes—even if that number is less than 50%—wins the election without any need for a second round. The two main opposition parties, the Union of the Forces of Change (UFC) and the Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), strongly protested the single-round system.

UFC President Gilchrist Olympio insisted that the election should be held in two rounds, with the top two candidates in the first round proceeding to a second round. A two-round system could work to the UFC’s benefit; as the main opposition party, its candidate might expect to place second in the first round and then win in the second round by obtaining the support of other opposition candidates who were defeated in the first round.

In addition to its demand for a two-round system, the opposition sought a decrease in the deposit that candidates were required to pay and argued that the voter rolls needed to be revised.

On 25 January 2010, six opposition candidates and three parties called for a resumption of the revision of the voter rolls as well as a delay of the election; they also argued that Gnassingbé was conducting an unofficial campaign before the start of the campaign period.

Bodjoda dismissed the opposition concerns; he said that the voter rolls had been established prior to the 2007 parliamentary election and that it was up to CENI to decide whether to resume revising them. Regarding Gnassingbé’s alleged unofficial campaigning, Bodjoda argued that Gnassingbé, as President, was merely working for the people: “he will not starve the people because of the electoral process”. Bodjoda additionally argued that the opposition only wanted a delay because they were unprepared for the election.

In order to improve the voter rolls, CENI announced on 26 January that people could register to vote at a hundred points across the country on 31 January. RPT Secretary-General Solitoki Esso released a statement on 28 January in which he accused the opposition of using the issue of revising the voter rolls as a delaying tactic.

At talks in Ouagadougou, mediated by Burkinabé President Blaise Compaoré, the RPT and the two main opposition parties—the UFC and the CAR—were unable to reach an agreement on opposition demands, the foremost of which was the revision of the voter rolls. The opposition also wanted a delay in the election, although Compaoré felt that it was necessary to hold the vote “between 28 February and 5 March to stay within the constitutional timeframe”. A slight delay was announced on 11 February, however, as the date was pushed back from 28 February to 4 March.

Citing continuing concerns about the voter rolls and fears that the election would be a “masquerade“, the UFC notified CENI that its three representatives on CENI were suspending their participation on 11 February. When announcing the UFC’s decision, CENI stressed that “the electoral process is proceeding normally”.

In a declaration, the coalition has vowed to achieve the advent of change in Togo and will soon launch its campaign.

Togo’s presidential election is planned for 4 March.

The Union of Forces for Change said in a statement that it did not want to be associated with an “electoral masquerade,” charging that rules had not been followed in drawing up new electoral rolls.

The UFC claimed that a population census had been inadequate, minors and foreigners had been put on the roll in some areas and Togolese had not been properly made aware.

It is the responsibility of the international community, particularly of the regional powers, the African Union, particularly, the responsibility of the African Union who are sending send an observation team headed by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo to monitor the presidential election in Togo next month, to ensure that there is not another masquerade.

http://www.paxmundi.info/2009/02/08/togo-presidential-election-fraud-masquerade/

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 10:11 pm and is filed under Africa's forgotten wars, Bolivia, What is going on?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.