This is an unsurprising result in Togo. President Faure Gnassingbé was reelected Sunday evening for a fourth term with 72.36% of the vote, according to the results proclaimed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni). He is therefore very far ahead of the opposition candidate Agbéyomé Kodjo, who denounces fraud and also claims victory. The participation rate was 76.63%, much higher than in 2015 (60.99%). Above all, it is the first time that results are announced so quickly in Togo, just over 24 hours after the election.
Thank you to the Togolese youth mobilized spontaneously to celebrate this victory in the name of democracy. # TGPR20 pic.twitter.com/ogqcDrKBii
- Faure E. Gnassingbe (@FEGnassingbe) February 24, 2020Successor to his father
Faure Gnassingbé, who came to power in 2005 after the death of his father, General Gnassigbé Eyadéma, who had ruled Togo for 38 years, has since been re-elected in highly contested elections. The outgoing head of state wins in the first round, having obtained an absolute majority. His main rival, Agbéyomé Kodjo, obtains him only 18.37%, while the third candidate, Jean-Pierre Fabre, collects 4.35% of the votes. A total of seven candidates were in the running, the last three having scored insignificant scores.
The Minister of Public Service Gilbert Bawara, who is also one of the first supporters of the Head of State, spoke of "an unprecedented score" for the candidate of the ruling party, the Union for the Republic (Unir). He was elected with just over 58% of the vote five years ago.
A few hours before the announcement of the official results, the opposition outsider Agbéyomé Kodjo, former Prime Minister and President of the National Assembly, had proclaimed himself “democratically elected president […] in the first round with a score varying between 57 and 61% ”. "I promise to form an inclusive government in the coming days," he added, inviting the outgoing president to "a patriotic outburst for a peaceful transfer of power."
Jean-Pierre Fabre is no longer the leader of the opposition
The candidate of the Patriotic Movement for Development and Democracy (MPDD) had surprised on Saturday during the count, especially in Lomé, the capital, where he preceded the National Alliance for Change (ANC), the party of the historic leader of the opposition, Jean-Pierre Fabre. Agbéyomé Kodjo claimed to have a large lead in the Maritime (South) and Plateaux (center-south) regions, to be shoulder to shoulder with the ruling party Unite in the center and to have achieved very good scores in the Savannas (north). His home, as well as that of his main supporter, the former archbishop of Lomé, Mgr Kpodzro, had been surrounded Saturday evening for a few hours by the police, who said they wanted to "guarantee their safety".
These results are therefore a blow for the historic opponent Jean-Pierre Fabre (ANC), who had also recognized his defeat on Saturday evening. Many Togolese criticized this historic rival of the head of state for not having taken advantage of the monster demonstrations of 2017-2018 where tens of thousands of people regularly took to the streets to demand the resignation of "Faure".
Lomé is calm
Although the vote took place without violence, civil society has identified ballot box stuffing and inversions of results. Opposition delegates were also denied access to certain polling stations, according to the opposition, and the Internet was cut intermittently in the capital or completely in certain sensitive regions. These incidents are in addition to the withdrawal of accreditation from many observers from the Church and civil society as well as the abandonment of the electronic security system for the results a few days before the vote.
Despite opposition accusations, life seems to be returning to normal in Lomé. On Sunday, the situation was calm in the capital, and in the morning the inhabitants went to the church as usual.
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