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Under the new legislation, parliament will have the power to choose the president, doing away with direct elections. The election commission announced that Gnassingbe’s ruling party had won a majority of seats in the West African nation’s parliament.
Close to the parliamentary election, Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe has signed a controversial new constitution that eliminates presidential elections, a statement from his office said. It’s a move that opponents say will allow him to extend his family’s six-decade-long rule.
Under the new legislation, parliament will have the power to choose the president, doing away with direct elections. The election commission announced that Gnassingbe’s ruling party had won a majority of seats in the West African nation’s parliament.
There was a crackdown on civic and media freedoms. The government banned protests against the proposed new constitution and arrested opposition figures. The electoral commission banned the Catholic Church from deploying election observers.
Provisional results showed the ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR) party won 108 out of 113 seats in parliament, and 137 out of 179 positions in the senate. The new constitution also increases presidential terms from five to six years and introduces a single-term limit. However, the almost 20 years that Gnassingbe has already served in office would not count toward that tally.
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The political opposition, religious leaders, and civil society say the proposed new constitution makes it likely that Gnassingbe will stay on when his mandate expires in 2025. They also fear that the creation of a figure similar to a prime minister, to be selected from the ruling party, could become another avenue for Gnassingbe to extend his grip on power even beyond that new term.
