Campaigning for the legislative and regional elections has begun in Togo. Originally scheduled to take place on 20th April, campaigning starts on Saturday, 13th April and will last for two weeks before the vote on 29th April.
Although the upcoming polls will be the first regional elections in the country’s history, it is the legislative elections that are attracting the most attention since it will be key to who becomes the country’s next leader.
This comes especially since the surprise adoption of the new Constitution by the country’s MPs on 25th March.
Following the vote by MPs on the new fundamental law, which 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.
Opposition parties have vowed protests and resistance to the planned change of the constitution, but the government banned their initial three-day planned protests.
The interior and security ministries said the protests planned for Thursday (11th April) would seriously disturb public order.
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A spokesman for the opposition behind the planned protest said the coalition was considering whether to move forward with the rallies anyway.
“Whenever they’re in a panic, they’re ready to use any kind of tricks against the opposition,” spokesman Eric Dupuy told The Associated Press. “It doesn’t move us.”
The government last week arrested nine opposition activists for engaging in political activities at a market. All nine were released on Tuesday (9th April) evening.
Tension is brewing in the West African nation of eight million people after MPs approved a new constitution that effectively scraps presidential elections and introduces more changes that aim to shift the country to a parliamentary system of government.
Source: Africanews