IFES staff in Togo report on the aftermath of the March 4 election.
Saturday, March 6 at exactly 7:00 pm, TV and radio channels suddenly halted their programming. The streets were also deserted. Everyone was waiting for the news of who had won the election.
“Based on the number of ballots cast, the candidate Faure Gnassingbe is declared President-elect of the Republic”, signed M. Taffa Tabiou, president of the CENI (Independent National Electoral Commission).
In a country that was looking for a peaceful election, dark clouds seemed to cover the blue sky and ever-burning sun. Suddenly, the sounds of people excited by the election and the happy atmosphere of the capital city were replaced with dead silence. Only the murmurs of some radios could be heard; a few fearful people listening carefully around them. They knew what was happening. It had happened before.
These results are not a surprise for the people of Togo – for the past 43 years they have repeatedly seen the Gnassingbe family emerge as the winners of elections. Yet, major fear washed over everyone: many members of the opposition promised that if Faure was re-elected, they would “set Togo on fire”. After a campaign that was described as a demonstration for peace, and an election that was thought to be free and fair and officially mobilized 64,68% of the population, what remained was to sit and wait hoping that all would remain calm.
On Election Day, Thursday March, 4th, IFES staff reported very few negative incidents and a peaceful atmosphere in Togo. This was already a success compared to 2005 presidential elections when the international observers openly criticized the major fraud and serious violence that came out of it. Back then, results were also greatly delayed as the CENI promised provisional results during the night through a press conference at 2:15 am. Yet by the next morning, they still hadn’t given any news.
On Friday afternoon, the day after the 2010 election, Jean-Pierre Fabre, General Secretary of UFC (Union of the Forces for a Change), declared himself winner with over 75% of the votes. Quickly, the incumbent party, Rally of the Togolese People (RPT), spokesman responded that their candidate Faure Gnassingbe has largely won the presidential elections. Observers were confused. The locals were not surprised at the results—they had seen this many times before. The CENI declared on TV that they would have provisional results on Saturday. While the population waited, the rumors that Faure was re-elected escalated, which amounted to some failed attempts of demonstration from the opposition; the FOSEP (Security Forces for the Presidential Elections) ensured they didn’t get too far.
The re-elected president, M. Faure E Gnassingbe went to France after the election; the opposition leader, JP Fabre declared that he does not recognize the “so-called victory of Faure,” and is gathering the population for a big demonstration on Tuesday morning.
We went to visit the UFC headquarters on Monday afternoon. Due to our status as International Observers, the FOSEP allowed us to visit their offices. It would have been impossible to get through any other way as the police had blocked every street leading to the UFC headquarters.
About 250 members of the opposition party are stuck inside the UFC headquarters, blocked in by the security forces. They looked at us with a pleading determination, as if they were imploring us to say the truth of what we saw as international observers. One even shouted: “This time, say the truth. Look and see for yourself.” It is unknown how long they will remain adamant as they are unable to leave the building and are not being given regular access to food.
M. Fabre, president of the party UFC, was denied access into the headquarters this morning. The MCA (Citizen Movement for Alternation), movement largely prosecuted for their slogan “Alternative or death, we will conquer”, is the target of many arrests: two of their leaders and other members were taken into custody; the SRI has not communicated their whereabouts.
On the streets things have also gotten somewhat ugly. The security forces have been using tear gas on some demonstrators. This occurred on Sunday and Monday morning. So far, the UFC reports 3 injured.
On Tuesday morning, the UFC is organizing a major demonstration in Lome, starting at 7am. According to them, there would be at least as many militants than there were at the closing of the campaign, on Tuesday – that is to say around 300 000 people. In the end, there were about 800 demonstrators—an easy number for the military to contain.