Samme familie har styret det lille vestafrikanske land mellem Ghana og Dahomey i snart et halvt århundrede – næste valg skulle være holdt i denne måned, men der er endnu ikke fastsat nogen valgdato.
LOME, 24 October 2012 (IRIN): A recent wave of protests by Togolese opposition groups and a heavy-handed clampdown by security forces have set the scene for a tense struggle for reforms in a country that has been ruled for 45 years by a father and his son.
Since April, the opposition has been holding demonstrations to press for electoral reforms ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for an as yet undeclared date this month.
Their demands have steadily grown tougher: They now want to see the back of President Faure Gnassingbé who came to power following a bitterly contested poll after the death of his father, Gnassingbé Eyadema, in 2005.
Eyadema had ruled the tiny West African country for 38 years.
“This is a citizen’s movement working to break the election-dispute-crackdown-dialogue cycle which is hampering Togo’s progress towards a democratic and lawful state,” said Zeus Ajavon, the coordinator of Save Togo, a coalition of opposition groups and civil society organizations.
The coalition is demanding transparent (gennemskuelige) and fair elections, a two-term limit for the presidency – currently there is no presidential term limit (præsidenten kan vælges igen og igen) – and respect for human rights among a raft of reforms. The last parliamentary polls were in 2007.
Street protests in June, August and September were violently quashed by security forces using rubber bullets and teargas.
The government in September led talks on electoral reforms, but the main opposition groups boycotted the negotiations.
The talks’ outcome did not specify whether the two-term limit would take effect in future elections, implying that Gnassingbé could run for two more five-year terms.
“For the sake of political change… Faure Gnassingbé should not stand for re-election in 2015. Any scheme crafted to breach this limit exposes Faure Gnassingbé to yet unknown consequences,” said Agbéyomé Kodjo, an opposition party chief.
Dialog – og snak
The government insists it is committed to holding peaceful elections and implementing reforms after negotiations with the opposition.
“The government’s aim is to hold inclusive dialogue to advance the country’s institutional and constitutional reforms, improve the electoral system and hold peaceful elections for Togo to consolidate democracy and build a lawful state,” said Gilbert Bawara, the territorial administration minister.
Prime Minister Arthème Ahoomey-Zunu said the negotiations in September were meant to calm tension and create “ideal conditions for transparent, credible and fair legislative polls”.
In 2005, soon after his father’s death, the military installed Faure Gnassingbé, sparking a barrage of international condemnation that forced him to resign and organize elections.
However, the polls were disputed by the opposition as fraudulent (præget af svindel), and triggered deadly violence. His re-election in 2010 also drew opposition complaints of malpractice (dårlig gennemførelse og svindel).
“Every election time there are talks, whose recommendations are quickly shelved (lagt på hylden), then a fraudulent poll to cling to power is organized. We are no longer going to be duped (ført bag lyset),” said Jean-Pierre Fabre, head of the opposition group National Alliance for Change.
Vox pop (rundspørge)
Læs videre på
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96625/TOGO-Simmering-discontent-ahead-of-polls
