The Democratic Convention of African Peoples (french: Convention démocratique des peuples africains, CDPA) is a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
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 ...
. It is a consultative member of
Socialist International
The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisation ...
.
History
The party was based in
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...
until 1989 when it was forced to leave by President
Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he wo ...
. In the same year some of its members were arrested for handing out anti-government literature; when they were put on trial in 1990, large demonstrations in
Lomé
Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437 led to several deaths.
The CDPA boycotted the
August 1993 presidential elections and the
February 1994 parliamentary elections. Its Secretary-General,
Léopold Gnininvi, was a candidate in the
June 1998 presidential elections, but received less than 1% of the vote and taking fifth place. The CDPA did not take part in the
2002 parliamentary elections, as it was part of the Coalition of Democratic Forces, which called for a boycott. Gnininvi initially registered as the CDPA's candidate in the
June 2003 presidential elections, but announced his withdrawal from the elections in late May, choosing to back the strongest opposition candidate,
of the
Union of Forces for Change (UFC), instead. The CPDA again supported Bob-Akitani in the
2005 presidential elections, in which he received 38.1% of the vote.
The party participated in the
October 2007 parliamentary elections, but received just 1.7% of the vote and failed to win a seat.
[Definitive results of the legislative elections of 14 October 2007]
Constitutional Court, 30 October 2007 Gnininvi accepted the post of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in the government formed after the election, and as a result he was criticized by much of the opposition, including some in the CDPA. Gandi Borouza, an important CDPA member, left the party in January 2008, arguing that participation in the government was harmful to the party's interests.
Prior to the
2013 parliamentary elections it joined the
Rainbow Alliance,
Togo : Six partis de l'opposition en Coalition Arc-En-Ciel pour les législatives
Afriquinfos, 4 August 2012 which received 11% of the vote, winning six of the 91 seats in the National Assembly.
References
External links
Official website
{{Togolese political parties
Political parties in Togo