Presidential elections were held in
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
on 24 April 2005, following the death in office of long-time president
Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Gnassingbé Eyadéma (; born Étienne Gnassingbé, 26 December 1935 – 5 February 2005) was the president of Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005, after which he was immediately succeeded by his son, Faure Gnassingbé.
Eyadéma participated i ...
. The main candidates were Eyadéma's son,
, and opposition leader
. The elections and the preceding period were marked by violence, with many people reported killed in various incidents. According to the official results, Gnassingbé won the election, taking slightly more than 60% of the vote. Violence flared in the capital
Lomé
Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437 after the results were announced, and thousands fled into neighboring countries.
Background
The death of Eyadéma on 5 February 2005 was followed by the naming of his son, Faure, as president. This move was taken first by the military, ostensibly to ensure stability, and subsequently legalized—at least ostensibly—by Gnassingbé's election as
President of the National Assembly by the National Assembly, which was controlled by the ruling
Rally for the Togolese People (RPT). The National Assembly subsequently changed the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
so that elections would not need to be held within 60 days, allowing Faure 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 National Assembly president at the time of Eyadéma's death,
Fambaré Ouattara Natchaba, should have taken power in accordance with the constitution. Under heavy pressure from other countries in the region, Gnassingbé stepped down on 25 February and was replaced by
Bonfoh Abbass; elections were scheduled for April.
Campaign
Faure was formally chosen as the party's candidate immediately prior to his resignation on 25 February. The main opposition leader,
Gilchrist Olympio
Gilchrist Olympio (born 26 December 1936) is a Togolese politician who was a long-time opponent of the regime of Gnassingbé Eyadéma and was President of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC), Togo's main opposition party from the 1990s til 2013.< ...
, was barred from standing due to a provision that a presidential candidate must have lived in the country for twelve months prior to the election; Olympio had been in exile, and his party, the
Union of Forces for Change
The Union of Forces for Change (french: Union des Forces du Changement) is an opposition political party in Togo. The President of the UFC was Gilchrist Olympio (UFC), nominated its vice-president Emmanuel Bob-Akitani as its candidate instead, representing a six-party opposition coalition. Bob-Akitani, who was chosen as the joint candidate of the six parties on 14 March, had previously run against Gnassingbé's father in the
2003 elections, receiving just over a third of the vote. Olympio returned to the country from exile on 19 March and endorsed Bob-Akitani's candidacy.
Harry Olympio
Harry Octavianus Olympio is a Togolese politician and the National President of the Rally for the Support of Democracy and Development (RSDD).
First period in government, 2000 attack dispute
Olympio, the cousin of Union of Forces for Change (UFC) ...
of the
Rally for the Support of Democracy and Development
The Rally for the Support of Democracy and Development (french: Rassemblement pour le soutien de la démocratie et du développement) is a political party in Togo. Its national president is Harry Olympio.
In the parliamentary election held on 27 ...
(RSDD) said in mid-March that he would be a candidate; he pointed to Bob-Akitani's advanced age in saying that Togo needed youthful leadership. Gnassingbé, at age 38, was even younger than Harry Olympio, and also tried to use this to his advantage by stressing the need for youthful leadership. Another candidate,
Kofi Yamgnane, withdrew from the race in favor of Bob-Akitani on 23 March.
Candidates had until 26 March to register, and campaigning took place from 8 to 22 April. The opposition demanded the postponement of the elections, and continued to do so after the
Independent National Electoral Commission
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established in 1998 and is the electoral body which oversees elections in Nigeria.
History
Regulation and administration of elections
The administration of democratic elections in Nige ...
said on 23 March that the elections would go ahead as scheduled. Demonstrations both for and against the 24 April date were held on 26 March. Voter registration began on 28 March; complaining of irregularities in the registration process, on 29 March minor candidates Harry Olympio and
of the
Party for Renewal and Redemption
The Party for Renewal and Redemption () is a political party in Togo.
At the last presidential of 24 April 2005, its candidate Nicolas Lawson won 1.04% of the vote.
The party participated in the October 2007 parliamentary election, but did not ...
(PRR) also called for the election to be delayed by one month. Harry Olympio alleged that some opposition supporters were not being allowed to register, that voter cards issued for deceased individuals were being distributed and that people were being intimidated by the army, predicting "massive electoral fraud", and said that failure to postpone the election would result in a call for revolution.
On 16 April, 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.
A few days before the elections, Interior Minister
Francois Boko said it would be "suicidal" to hold the elections as planned and called for it to be postponed. He also called for a transitional government to be set up that would last for one or two years with an opposition Prime Minister. This call was quickly rejected by interim president
Bonfoh Abbass, who also said that Boko would be replaced as Interior Minister. Bob-Akitani, who also wanted the elections postponed, called Boko's action "courageous". Following Boko's statement, Lawson withdrew his candidacy.
On 25 April Gnassingbé and Gilchrist Olympio reportedly reached a deal providing for the establishment of a government of national unity, regardless of who won the election, but this was later denied by the opposition.
Conduct
As the voting ended on 24 April, three people were reported to have been killed. Each side accused the other of disruption and stuffing ballot boxes.
Results
On 26 April provisional results were announced; Gnassingbé had won with 60.22% of the vote, with Bob-Akitani coming in second with 38.19%. Harry Olympio received only 0.55% of the vote, while Lawson took 1.04% despite having withdrawn from the race. 63.6% of registered voters participated in the elections. The constitutional court confirmed Gnassingbé's win on 3 May, when official results were released.
Aftermath
On 27 April eleven people were reported dead and 95 injured in clashes as supporters of the opposition battled the police in Lomé. Bob-Akitani subsequently declared himself President, claiming to have actually taken 70% of the vote. By 29 April approximately 100 people were reported to have been killed, many in the town of
Aného, near the border with
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...
. While Lomé was reported to be calmer than immediately after the election, armed men shot into the German cultural center before burning the building down on the evening of 28 April.
Gnassingbé was sworn in as president on 4 May. The Togolese League of Human Rights said later in May that 790 people had been killed and 4,345 had been hurt in the violence covering the period from 28 March to 5 May, a figure considerably higher than previous estimates of a death toll of about 100. An official commission of inquiry into the violence has been ordered by the government, the results of which are planned to be made public within three months. About 24,000 people are said to have fled into neighboring
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
and
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...
.
TOGO: Human rights group says 790 killed in election violence
IRIN, 13 May 2005
References
{{Togolese elections
Presidential elections in Togo
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
Election, Presidential
April 2005 events in Africa