The government party obtains 108 of the 113 seats up for grabs and consolidates the power of the Togolese president
May 14. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Constitutional Court of Togo has ratified the results of the legislative elections held in April, in which the government party, led by the president, Faure Gnassingbé, won an overwhelming majority in Parliament, amid complaints about irregularities by part of the opposition.
Thus, the president of the Constitutional Court, Djobo-Babakane Coulibaley, has highlighted that Gnassingbé’s formation, the Union for the Republic (UNIR) took 108 of the 113 seats in the running, while the other five have gone to of various opposition parties.
Coulibaley explained that the Alliance of Democrats for Integral Development (ADDI) has won two seats, while the National Alliance for Change (ANC), the Dynamics for the Majority of the People (DMP) and the Democratic Forces of the Republic ( FDR) have gotten one each.
In this sense, he stressed that the results have been ratified after a “thorough analysis” of the appeals presented by the opposition, which he “declared null”, while adding that the participation rate was 61.76 percent. , as reported by the Togolese state news agency, ATOP.
The confirmation of the provisional results also comes about a week after Gnassingbé enacted a controversial constitutional reform that changes the presidential model to a parliamentary one, despite complaints from the opposition, which maintains that this seeks to allow the president to remain at the head of the country indefinitely.
The reform was approved on March 19 in Parliament – dominated by UNIR – and has been especially criticized because it eliminates the possibility for Togolese to vote directly for their president, who will be elected by the National Assembly and will have a largely ceremonial.
Likewise, it establishes a new executive position, that of president of the Council of Ministers, equivalent to that of prime minister and also appointed by the National Assembly for a six-year mandate that will be renewable as long as it has a parliamentary majority, something open like a door. open for Gnassignbé.
Gnassingbé has been president of Togo since 2005, when he was brought to power with the support of the Army after the death of his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who had been at the head of the country since 1967, thus consolidating a family saga at the head of the African country that extends for nearly six decades.
Add Comment