CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
|
Togo |
POLITICS
Parliamentary elections in Togo took place on 27 October 2002.
There was a massive turnout of voters in spite of the Opposition’s call to boycott the electionsThere are 81 seats in Parliament. President Gnassingbé Eyadema’s Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) will have by far the majority in the Chamber with 72 seats. The remaining nine seats are divided between various political groupings and one independent Member.
According to statistics published in the official Gazette, the total number of registered voters for the country’s 81 electoral districts was 2,841,079. The actual number of voters was 1,915,875 i.e. a turnout of 57.43%. The poll proceeded calmly and was supervised by international observers who afterwards described the voting as «reliable and open». People from both towns and the countryside moved towards the voting stations to carry out their duty as citizens. But in the capital, Lome, there wasn’t much of a turnout because of the opposition’s call for a boycott.
No headway
For more than ten years the Togolese people have been living through one political crisis after another, with those involved on either side trying vainly to find some solution. Several times, President Gnassingbé Eyadema involved himself personally in these discussions. People who are not familiar with Togo and its way of doing things, especially non-Togolese, don’t understand the Togolese situation. Everytime there’s a problem within the country, it’s the people in the long run who suffer from the politicians’ carryings-on.
Fed up with the current state of affair and determined that there must be a better future possible, the people freely chose to vote rather than follow the Opposition’s continual calls for boycotts. The fact is, the Opposition are always after their own interests. They thirst for power, completely ignoring the people’s sufferings.
Any head of state must be ultimately responsible for rebuilding a country and in theory, his/her departure should not be an occasion for a country to tear itself apart. A short time ago, it could be said that the Opposition’s cause was a just one, but presently, it has been caught in its own trap, especially with the election boycott.
Léopold Gnininvi is one of the opposition leaders. In one of Togo’s weekly magazines he said that the political parties must acknowledge that as things presently stand, they can’t make any headway, so everyone, parties and citizens, must work together to try and improve the situation. «I refer the matter back to the people because democracy is not a one-sided value, it is initially a community affair». A party must bend before the winds of change or it will die.
Change or political weakness?
Several political groupings have now been established. The people who are yearning for an agreement between the opposition leaders, are wondering how long will this sort of thing carry on? In August. i.e before the parliamentary elections, a new political grouping saw the light of day. And just a few hours before voting actually began yet another grouping came into being. In the past there had already been such groupings as the Coordination of the Democratic Opposition (Number One) [COD1] and the Coordination of the Democratic Opposition (Number Two) [COD2]. Many other coalitions were established with no agreement being found possible with the government, who cleverly profited by division within opposition ranks to strengthen its own position — very much a case of divide and rule. The proof has been shown in the election results.
Now everyone is looking towards the presidential elections in 2003. Many opposition leaders could well be intending to become candidates, even General Eyadema. But before this happens, the Constitution must be changed, making it possible for the current head of state to offer himself as a candidate. But look what’s happened. The Opposition has boycotted the election of the very Members who must vote in the law amending the Electoral Code. Because of this, it must be asked if the Opposition is politically mature.
- Christian Alliki, Benin, November 2002 — © Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment