On Thursday, March 4, the Togolese people will be heading to the polls to elect a new president. If these elections go well and the population considers them to be valid, they could be a step in the right direction in the country's democratization.
Since 1967 Togo has not has a stellar record with elections. In 2005, the current president, Faure E Gnassingbe took over power after the death of his father, the General Gnassignbe Eyadema who had been the head of the state for 38 years. The elections that brought Faure Gnassingbe to power were greatly criticized by the international community because of major human rights abuses, frauds and corruption.
Despite his ascent into power, much of Togo’s population is not unhappy with Faure Gnassinbe’s work; part of the reason for this is that he has made an effort to depart from his father’s style of ruling. Nonetheless, in the minds of the Togolese people, his name and political party (the RPT - Rally for the Togolese People) are tied to the long years of dictatorship suffered under his father.
The coming elections are a one-round uninominal system, which will take place on the 4th of March 2010. F Gnassingbe is candidate for a second mandate. While the opposition, composed of six different parties, agreed of the importance of a single candidate, the discussions did not lead to any result.
Since the campaign period started on Monday, February 15, political parties have displayed posters all over the country and have spent time marching together along with music and caravans in the streets of Lome. Faure Gnassingbe’s delegation is unreasonably large compared to the opposition, even though the UFC (Union of the Forces for a Change) party is also well represented and very active. Other political parties are progressively increasing their actions in the campaign; this strategy is mainly due to the lack of funds.
The greatest risk to this election will certainly be the rising tensions between President F Gnassingbe and the MCA (Citizen Movement for Alternation), a new association from the opposition that has promised to take action if the elections are corrupt. Their slogan “Alternation or Death, we will win” has been greatly criticized by the government. So far, their threats have not resulted in violence , but the press reaffirms that it would not be surprising if members of the MCA were to be arbitrarily arrested in the coming days. The chief of FOSEP (Security Forces for the Presidential Elections), who is believed to have participated in the 2005 killings, is watching the MCA very closely and has made speeches along with the President to demonstrate the illegality and danger of this new movement. On the other side, the MCA insists that their goal is to have peaceful and fraud-free elections. They dismiss the allegations brought up by the government.
IFES is currently on the field doing various activities. Among them is the implementation of the EVER (Electoral Violence Education and Resolutions) program which has not acknowledged, up to this day, any violence related to the upcoming elections. Having a peaceful election is especially important due to the fact that the 2005 election violence that left over 400 people dead has not been forgotten. Radios are switched on, economic exchanges are currently on hold; the population is careful and aware.
Despite these potential problems, there is an excitement in the air in relation to this election. The people are hoping to have an election that represents their points of view and opens the way for true democracy.
Togo is ranked 159th in the HDI (Human Development Index) ranking of 2009. While its economy depends largely on agriculture, the tropical climate provides good growing seasons; The port of Lome is also a great platform for economic exchanges since goods are then delivered all the way into the Sahel countries (Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali) who don’t have access to sea.
For a version of this article in French, please click here.
By Amourlaye Touréand Paul Chick
IFES/Togo.