The president of Togo adopted a new constitution late on Monday that does away with presidential elections. Critics criticised this decision as a ruse to continue his family’s decades-long rule. In reaction, civil society organisations in the country of West Africa have called for protests.
Parliament will choose the head of state under the new constitution, replacing the current system of popular election. This comes after the election commission declared recently that the ruling party of President Faure Gnassingbe had won a majority in parliament.
Prior to the voting, the government put limitations on media and civic liberties, forbidding protests against the draft constitution and detaining opposition members. The electoral commission also forbade the Catholic Church from sending out election monitors, while Togo’s media watchdog halted foreign journalists’ accreditation.
Critics claim that the new constitution gives Gnassingbe with loopholes to extend his tenure beyond the scheduled 2025 mandate expiration, notwithstanding some restrictions, such as expanding presidential terms to six years with a single-term limit. For more than 50 years, the Gnassingbe family has ruled Togo’s political scene. Eyadema Gnassingbe was the first to take over, and his son Faure Gnassingbe succeeded him following controversial elections that the opposition deemed to be rigged.
Furthermore, there are worries that Gnassingbe may use the new constitution, which creates a prime minister-like post to be selected by the ruling party, as an additional means of retaining power.
A coalition of Togo’s civil society organisations has called for protests in response to the constitutional revisions, calling for the restoration of the prior document. Spokesman for the groups David Dosseh underlined how important the 2025 election will be for a democratic transition, calling it “absolutely necessary” for the people of Togo to choose a new president.
The action is indicative of ongoing political unrest in Togo, where actions that are seen as strengthening the ruling party’s hold on power are fiercely opposed by civil society organisations and opposition voices.
