The death of long-time Togolese president Gnassingbé Eyadéma on February 5, 2005, was followed by the naming of his son Faure Gnassingbé as president—a move taken first by the military, ostensibly to ensure stability, and subsequently legalized—at least ostensibly—by Gnassingbé's election as parliament speaker by the parliament, which is controlled by the Rally for the Togolese People ruling party established by Gnassingbé's father. The parliament subsequently changed the constitution so that elections would not need to be held within 60 days, thus allowing the son to serve out the remainder of his father's term, which would have expired in 2008. These events were branded an unconstitutional coup by many, who thought that the parliament speaker at the time of Eyadéma's death, Fambare Ouattara Natchaba , should have taken power according to the constitution. Under heavy pressure from others in the region, Gnassingbé stepped down on February 25 and was replaced by Bonfoh Abbass, but he will run for president with the backing of the ruling party in an election scheduled for April 24. He had been formally chosen as the party's candidate immediately prior to his resignation on February 25. The main opposition leader, Gilchrist Olympio , is barred from standing due to a provision that a presidential candidate must have lived in the country for 12 months prior to the election; Olympio has been in exile, and his party, the Union of Forces for Change , nominated Emmanuel Bob-Akitani , the party's vice-president, as its candidate instead, representing a six-party opposition coalition. Bob-Akitani, who was chosen as the joint candidate of the six parties on March 14, previously and unsuccessfully ran against Gnassingbé's father in 2003. Olympio returned to the country from exile on March 19 and endorsed Bob-Akitani's candidacy. Harry Olympio of the Rally for the Support of Democracy and Development said in mid-March that he would be a candidate, fracturing the six-party opposition alliance; he pointed to Bob-Akitani's advanced age in saying that Togo needed youthful leadership.¹ Nicolas Lawson of the Party for Renewal and Redemption will also contest the election; another candidate, Kofi Yamgnane, withdrew from the race in favor of Bob-Akitani on March 23.

Candidates had until March 26 to register, and campaigning will take place from April 8 to April 22.² The opposition has demanded the postponement of the election, and it continued to do so after the electoral commission said on March 23 that the election would go ahead as scheduled. Demonstrations both for and against the April 24 date were held on March 26. [1]

On April 16, seven people—six from the ruling party and one from the opposition—were reportedly killed in clashes between supporters of the two sides. Each side accused the other of provoking the violence. [2]

References

1. Ebow Godwin, Associated Press, "AP Interview: Opposition leader Harry Olympio says he's running for president in Togo", March 18, 2005.
2. Deutsche Presse-Agentur, "Date set for elections in Togo", March 4, 2005.