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The upcoming polls will be the first regional elections in the country’s history. However, it is the legislative elections that are attracting the most attention. That will decide who becomes the country’s next leader
Electoral campaigns for the legislative and regional polls have begun (Saturday) in Togo, which was originally scheduled to take place on April 20. The upcoming polls will be the first regional elections in the country’s history. However, it is the legislative elections that are attracting the most attention. That will decide who becomes the country’s next leader.
This comes especially since the surprise adoption of a new constitution by the country’s MPs on March 25. The new fundamental law shifts the country from a presidential to a parliamentary system. Togo’s Head of State, Faure Gnassingbé, attempted to appease the population by delaying the promulgation of the text and requesting a second reading in the National Assembly.
He called for MPs to hold broad consultations with traditional and regional leaders across the country. Those consultations started recently on April 15, precisely. Opposition parties have vowed protests and resistance to the planned change of the constitution, but their initial three-day planned protests did not hold after they were banned by the government. The government last week arrested nine opposition activists for engaging in political activities at a market. All nine were released on the same day.
Read Also:
https://trendsnafrica.com/parliamentary-elections-in-togo-in-april-29-tension-continues/
https://trendsnafrica.com/togos-connotational-reform-lawmakers-to-ascertain-views-of-electorates/
Tension is rising in the West African nation of eight million people over the new constitution that effectively scraps presidential elections and introduces more changes that aim to shift the country to a parliamentary system of government. Many fear the changes amongst other things may be an avenue for President Faure Gnassingbé to extend his grip on power especially after his current mandate expires in 2025. The Gnassingbé family has ruled Togo since 1967.
