Togo opposition threatens to boycott electoral census

The Togolese opposition has called on the population to boycott the electoral census, which is scheduled to start on October 1 in preparation for legislative and local elections.

The West African nation which has been going through a serious political crisis for over a year is set to hold local elections and a referendum in December.

The scheduled polls was proposed by mediators from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), after several months of difficult political dialogue between the government and the opposition, in order to break the country’s deadlock.

Nevertheless, the opposition has termed the elections as fraudulent and a charade. They demand that the Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni) be reconstituted, following the agreement reached on 23 September. Under this agreement, the opposition will have eight seats, as will the ruling party, in the committee.

The coalition of 14 opposition parties wants the re-introduction of a two-term limit for presidents, applied retroactively, which would prevent president Faure Gnassingbe from standing for re-election in 2020.

The government has agreed to the two-term limit but not the retroactive element, which would allow the president to stand at polls in 2020 and 2025.