Preparations
are accelerating ahead of Togo's presidential election of April 25, 2015.
Political
actors in Togo and the international community are looking forward to the
country's presidential election of April 25, 2015 whose major stakes are the
preservation of peace, stability, national cohesion and concord in view of
consolidating democracy and economic development.
The election was initially
programmed to take place on April 15, 2015 but had to be postponed by 10 days
to April 25, 2015, in order to correct organizational and material shortcomings,
particularly related to voter roll and putting in place of electoral material.
Peace and Concord
The International
Organisation of la Francophonie (OIF) has been working tirelessly with
government authorities and political actors to have an acceptable voter roll.
Peace is at moment hoped for as presidential candidates have agreed on the
updated but still imperfect electoral list.
An official of the OIF, Siaka
Sangare admitted that, "The current state of the electoral list is good
enough for the 2015 vote," Reuters quoted. Reiterating consensus about the
electoral list, he is quoted as further saying that, "I admit that it is
not perfect but it is a list that has been approved by representatives of all
candidates. I think the list is satisfactory
Imperfections
on the voter roll were the main bone of contention between authorities and
opposition parties. This necessitated the intervention of the Chairman of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), John Dramani Mahama who is
also the President of Ghana said. After talks with the political actors, he
proposed and with success the postponement of the vote by 10 days for the
imperfections to be corrected.
Conquest of Power
Incumbent
President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé who is running for the third consecutive
term after winning the 2005 and 2010 presidential elections, apparently faces
no major challenge. As the candidate of the ruling Union for the Republic
(UNIR), he reportedly enjoys some hegemony as UNIR is well established in the
country. He is equally said to be enjoying considerable resources in the
political scene, mostly because the party leaders hold key positions in the
State and public administration.
The
opposition leaders have remained fragile and largely divided after failing to
convince Faure Gnassingbé not to stand for re-election in the April 25, 2015
poll. The opposition indeed, has failed to come up with a single candidate to
face the incumbent president in the poll. Alberto Olympio strongly advocates
that 10 days are largely insufficient to correct the imperfections with regard
to the presidential election.
Supporters of another opposition candidate,
Jean-Pierre Fabre who have formed an alliance of parties called "Combat
pour l'alternance pacific" (CAP) are in favour of the updated electoral
list. "We are satisfied that the anomalies have been detected and
corrected," Reuters quoted Brigitte Adjamagbe Johnson, a member of CAP as
having said.
Economic, Social Development
The Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Togo just elsewhere in the West
African Sub-region is crusading for the preservation of social peace and
national cohesion wherever major elections are taking place. ECOWAS Chairman,
Dramani Mahama in a final press release after brokering a deal with Togolese
political actors to postpone the presidential election to April 25, 2015, urged
them to take all necessary measures to ensure peace.
He advised that
everything should be done to consolidate in Togo, the principles of democracy,
good governance, peace and security as provided for in ECOWAS regulations.
President Dramani Mahama reiterated that holding the election in an appeased
atmosphere and in a transparent manner, will enable Togolese forge ahead with
economic and social development in a spirit of national cohesion and concord.
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