Police Break Up Togo Opposition Event: AFP Journalists

Police in Togo on Wednesday broke up an opposition news conference called to address constitutional reform criticised as a power grab, AFP journalists said

Lome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Mar, 2024) Police in Togo on Wednesday broke up an opposition news conference called to address constitutional reform criticised as a power grab, AFP journalists said.

The West African country's parliament voted for the new constitution on Monday, changing the presidential system to a parliamentary one.

With less than a month before legislative elections, the opposition fears the change will clear the way for long-serving President Faure Gnassingbe to remain in power indefinitely.

Around 30 gendarmes armed with truncheons broke up the gathering called by opposition parties and civil society groups, saying the event in the capital Lome did not have the necessary authorisation.

"It's unacceptable, the Togolese regime is allowing itself absolutely everything, having changed the constitution on the sly," organiser and head of the Parti des Togolais (PT) Nathaniel Olympio told AFP.

"By depriving the Togolese people of the right to choose their president through this constitutional coup, the regime has crossed a red line," Olympio said in a statement after the event at the headquarters of the ADDI opposition party.

"I call on the Togolese people to stand up and stop this disastrous plan," he said.

The change to the constitution, proposed by a group of lawmakers mostly from the Union for the Republic (UNIR) ruling party, was adopted almost unanimously.

The president will be chosen "without debate" by lawmakers "for a single six-year term", and not by the public, according to the new text.

The president can currently serve a maximum of two five-year terms.

The country's opposition, which boycotted the last legislative elections in 2018 and denounced "irregularities" in the electoral census.

It is not yet known when the change -- approved with 89 votes in favour, one against and one abstention -- will come into force.

Gnassingbe has been power since 2005 and succeeded his father General Gnassingbe Eyadema, who seized power in a coup more than 50 years ago.

In 2019, members of parliament revised the constitution to limit presidential terms to two, but it did not apply retrospectively, leaving Gnassingbe free to stand for the next two elections.

The new text will mark Togo's entry into its fifth republic, with the last major constitutional change dating back to 1992.

The new constitution also introduces the position of "president of the council of ministers" with "full authority and power to manage the affairs of the government and to be held accountable accordingly".

The president of the council of ministers is "the leader of the party or the leader of the majority coalition of parties following the legislative elections. The position will be held for a six-year term", according to the text.