A new constitution and victory of his party at the polls may provide the pathway to extending President Faure Gnassingbé’s 19-year rule.
Provisional results from the Togolese electoral commission showed the country’s ruling Union for the Republic party (UNIR) has won a sweeping majority in the country’s legislative elections held on 29 April, securing 108 out of the 113 seats in parliament, and 137 out of 179 positions in the senate.
Over the weekend, the head of the country’s electoral commission, Dago Yabre, announced on a national broadcast that the ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR) party won the majority of seats in the national assembly, following the April 29 polls. Yabre also stated that 61 percent of registered voters participated in the elections.
Critics of the President Faure Gnassingbé-led government say the results did not come as a surprise as the moves to seize the country’s entire political structure through a contrived constitutional amendment process had been revealed by the country’s opposition and several civic groups.
Voting took place against the backdrop of heightened political tension following the approval earlier in April of the controversial new constitution and a series of crackdowns on opposition protests.
Many say the results pave the way for Gnassingbé to extend his 19-year rule, under the new charter.
This claim appears to be confirmed with the president finally signing the new constitution into law after the elections.
Under the new legislation, parliament will have the power to choose the president, doing away with direct elections. The new constitution now increases presidential terms from five to six years and introduces a single-term limit.
The new term requirement will not take into consideration the almost 20 years that Gnassingbé has already served in office, meaning he can remain in office when his current term ends next year, continuing on till 2029, without facing voters.
The reforms also intend to make the presidency more of a ceremonial post, which would significantly strip the incumbent of his powers. However, Gnassingbé is also eligible to slip into the newly created office of the President of the Council of Ministers, a powerful figure similar to a prime minister, with extensive authority to manage government’s affairs.
The occupier of that office will be selected from the ruling party, will hold extensive executive powers and will have no term limits, which could become another avenue for Gnassingbé to extend his grip on power even beyond the new term, commentators say.
The constitution had been amended in 2019 allowing him to reset the time period and run for two new additional mandates.
The elections, which were postponed twice due to the controversial constitutional reform, will be the starting point for the change from the presidential system of governance to a parliamentary one.
With the UNIR retaining its dominance in the legislative house, President Gnassingbé gets a new lease of life as the Head of State. However, critics have voiced serious concerns about the country’s stability if the president’s political script is played out without considering the social implications of his actions.
Several polls show that his approval ratings have plummeted. Opposition groups and many other Togolese have denounced the constitutional changes, with planned protests banned by the government.
After boycotting the 2018 parliamentary elections, citing irregularities in the candidate registration process and the country’s history with generally unreliable elections, opposition parties were hoping to wrestle a significant number of parliament seats, but could only muster wins in five.
Regional observers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said that they were satisfied with how the election was conducted, but opposition parties say they find the regional body’s approval of the exercise questionable as it was held 2 weeks after modifying the constitution, a modification that goes against the body’s own protocol on democracy and good governance, which clearly states that conditions cannot be changed within 6 months to elections.
In the lead-up to the elections, authorities banned foreign media from covering the elections following the arrest and deportation of French journalist Thomas Dietrich — who was reportedly assaulted by government security agents.
The UNIR will now control the national assembly and the newly created senate, which political opposition believes to be a rubber stamp apparatus for President Gnassingbé’s continued rule.
