Togolese voters went to the polls on Monday to vote in the country’s legislative elections, which will test support for a proposed new constitution that would eliminate future presidential elections and instead give MPs the authority to choose the president.
The opposition and clergy claim the act is an attempt by President Faure Gnassingbe to extend his tenure.
Legislators passed it in late March and it is almost ready for implementation. Authorities have tightened restrictions on civic and media freedoms ahead of the elections.
In early April, the government prohibited protests against the proposed new constitution and arrested opposition figures.
In mid-April, a French journalist who had arrived in Togo to cover the elections was detained, attacked, and ejected. Togo’s media authority then paused the accreditation procedure for foreign journalists.
The electoral commission has also prohibited the Catholic Church from sending election observers to watch the proceedings. Togo has been ruled by the same family for 57 years, first by Eyadema Gnassingbe and now by his son.
Faure Gnassingbe has been in office since 2005, after winning elections that the opposition called a fraud.
The opposition and clergy argue that the proposed new constitution, agreed by parliament in March after its term expired, increases the likelihood that Gnassingbe will be re-elected when his mandate ends in 2025.
