Togo: President Gnassingbe likely to prevail amid ineffective opposition

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Legislative elections day expected: March 2024

Togo has a perceived and fragile democracy: President Faure Gnassingbé has been quietly re-elected since 2005 without much fanfare or drama, like his father before him. The parliamentary elections scheduled for March 2024 come after their postponement which conveniently pushed the legislative elections beyond the parliamentary mandates (which ended in 2023), leaving Gnassingbé alone in power. President Gnassingbe is likely to prevail in light of an ineffective opposition.

(c) MondAfrique


Elections in Togo take place within the framework of a presidential system. Both the President and the National Assembly are directly elected by voters. is a with the in power.

Electoral history

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Following , the territory began to elect members to the . The took place on 21 October 1945, with French Togoland and neighbouring combined into a single constituency. Two MPs were elected using separate electoral colleges for French citizens and Africans. A was held in February 1946 after the MP elected by the First College (French citizens) died in December 1945, with a second full election for the combined constituency held in . By the , Togo had become a single-member seat, and of the (CUT) was elected.

A Representative Council was established in the same period and was in December 1946. The CUT emerged as the largest party, winning 14 of the 24 seats in the Second College. French National Assembly elections were held again in , with the result being a reversal of the November 1946 elections, of the (PTP) defeating Aku. were held later in the year and saw the CUT reduced to a single seat, with the (UPCN) and its sister party the PTP winning 23 of the 24 Seconcd College seats. Due to political restructuring of the territory, a Territorial Assembly was created shortly afterwards and in March 1952; the UPCN won half of the 30 seats, with the CUT– alliance winning nine and the PTP six.

In the the UPCN and PTP won 15 of the 30 seats each, with the CUT boycotting the vote. The Grunitzky ran unopposed for the French National Assembly seat. in 1958 led to a victory for the CUT, which won 29 of the 46 seats.

were held in 1961, the first time the country's president had been directly elected. of the (PUT, the renamed CUT) was the only candidate, whilst the PUT was the only party to put forward candidates in the National Assembly election, winning all 52 seats. Following in 1963 that ousted Olympio, early were held, with Grunitzky as the sole presidential candidate. Four parties (the PUT, Juvento, the and the ) ran unopposed on a combined list for the National Assembly elections, each taking 14 of the 56 seats.

Following another coup by in 1967, elections were not held again until 1979 and the country became a one-party state under the (RPT); that year saw Eyadéma re-elected unopposed as President and the RPT win all the National Assembly seats. Parliamentary elections were held under this system in and , with Eyadéma re-elected as President in .

Mulit-party democracy was reintroduced in 1992 and held in 1993. A boycott by the two main opposition parties saw Eyadéme re-elected with 96.5% of the vote. Although the following year saw the RPT defeated by the (CAR), Eyadéma refused to appoint CAR leader as Prime Minister, instead giving the post to , leader of the CAR's junior ally, the ; this caused a split in the coalition, and the RPT joined the government in their place.

Eyadéma was re-elected again in with 52% of the vote and the RPT won 79 of the 81 seats in the National Assembly in the following year amidst a boycott by eight opposition parties. The party retained its majority in the , which were boycotted by nine parties, and Eyadéma was re-elected for a fifth time in the with 58% of the vote.

Following Eyadéma's death in 2005, early were held in the same year, and were won by his son , who received 60% of the vote. The RPT subsequently won 50 of the 81 seats in the . Gnassingbé was re-elected in with 61% of the vote. In 2012 he dissolved the RPT, replacing it with the (UNIR). UNIR went on to win 62 of the 91 seats in the . Gnassibngé was re-elected again in with 59% of the vote.

Electoral system

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President

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The President of Togo is elected by .

National Assembly

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The 91 members of the National Assembly are elected by in 30 multi-member constituencies of between two and ten seats; seats are allocated using the and there is no . Parties must submit lists with double the number of candidates for the number of seats being contested in order to provide replacements.

Referendums

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During the colonial era, voters participated in French constitutional referendums in , , and . Unlike in other French territories, voting in the 1958 referendum was restricted to French citizens only.

A on remaining a or becoming an autonomous region within the was held in 1956 and resulted in a large majority in favour of the French option. However, the results were rejected by the as the referendum had not included the option of independence and opted to continue with the trusteeship.

A approved constitutional amendments allowing for direct elections for the president and the creation of a presidential republic. Further constitutional amendments were approved in a following the coup.

In 1972 a was held on whether 1967 coup leader Eyadéma should remain in power, and was approved by 99.9% of voters. Constitutional amendments approved in a made the country a one-party state. This was reversed by changes approved in a .

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