Togo votes in parliamentary elections ahead of proposed controversial reforms

LOME, Togo (AP) — Togolese voters headed to the polls on Monday to vote in the country’s parliamentary elections, which will test support for a proposed new constitution that would scrap future presidential elections and give lawmakers the power to choose the president instead.

The opposition and the clergy say the legislation is an effort by President Faure Gnassingbe to prolong his rule. It was passed by lawmakers in late March and is close to being enacted.

Authorities have cracked down on civic and media freedoms ahead of the vote. In early April, the government banned protests against the proposed new constitution and the arrest of opposition figures.

In mid-April, a French journalist who arrived in Togo to cover the elections was arrested, assaulted and expelled. Togo’s media regulator subsequently suspended the accreditation process for foreign journalists.

The electoral commission has also banned the Catholic Church from deploying election observers to monitor the process.

Togo has been ruled by the same family for 57 years, initially by Eyadema Gnassingbe and subsequently by his son. Faure Gnassingbe has been in office since 2005 after winning elections that the opposition described as a sham.

The opposition and the clergy say the proposed new constitution, which was passed by parliament in March after its mandate expired, makes it likely that Gnassingbe will be reelected when his mandate expires in 2025.

Voters will elect candidates to 113 parliamentary seats — 22 more than the previous assembly — and for the first time fill 179 senatorial positions. Preliminary results are slated for release within six days post-election.

Some 4.2 million Togolese are registered to vote in the West African country of about 8 million people. More than 14,200 polling stations will operate nationwide from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Togo’s authorities sealed the borders on Monday for security reasons, and dispatched some 12,000 gendarmes and police officers to safeguard the electoral process.

Amid a rise in the spread of disinformation during elections in West Africa, authorities in Togo warned against disseminating false results or other misleading news.

Observer missions from the African Union among other organizations have been authorized to monitor the vote.

Erick Kaglan, The Associated Press