The legislative and regional elections due to be held on April 20 have been postponed, the Togolese presidency announced on Wednesday April 03, 2024, without specifying a new date. The postponement follows "the Head of State's request to proceed with a second reading of the constitutional revision law" contested by the opposition and civil society. The polls, which were due to be held in December, had previously been announced for April 12, before being postponed to April 20.
"The government will slightly reschedule the legislative and regional elections," said the presidential statement, also read on state television.
Late at night on March 25, 2024, Togo's MPs, whose term of office had expired, adopted a new constitution designed to change the country from a presidential to a parliamentary system. This reform was hotly contested by the opposition and civil society, who saw it as a maneuver by the President to maintain his grip on power, prompting the Head of State to call for a new vote by the deputies a few days later.
Under the new Constitution, the Togolese Parliament is responsible for electing the President of the Republic (who is deprived of all prerogatives), "without debate" and "for a single six-year term".
Under the terms of the new text, power will reside in the hands of a "President of the Council of Ministers", a kind of Prime Minister "appointed" by the deputies, in charge of regalian functions. The term of office is to be six years, with no mention of whether it will be renewable or not.
"Call for events "
It is this point that worries the opposition, who fear that Faure Gnassingbé will be appointed to this position, ensuring that he remains in power indefinitely.
The opposition, which boycotted the last legislative elections in 2018, plans to mobilize massively for this year's ballot.
In addition to the opposition, the draft constitutional reform has been strongly criticized by civil society.
The day after the parliamentary vote, the Togolese Bishops' Conference issued a statement questioning the "timeliness" and "appropriateness" of the reform, and calling on the President to "postpone the promulgation of the new Constitution and engage in an inclusive political dialogue, after the results of the forthcoming legislative and regional elections".
On Friday, nearly a hundred academics, intellectuals, artists, political figures and civil society players signed a "citizen's appeal" calling on the Togolese people to "mobilize" to "reject this fraud" and on President Gnassingbé to "halt the current process for the good of our country".
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