Togo: Campaigns Begin for Upcoming Legislative and Regional Elections

Campaigning for the legislative and regional elections have begun in Togo. Originally scheduled to take place on April 20, campaigning starts on Saturday April 13 and will last for two weeks before the vote on April 29.
Although the upcoming polls will be the first regional elections in the country’s history, it is the legislative elections that are attracting the most attention since it will be key to who becomes the country’s next leader.
This comes especially since the surprise adoption of the new Constitution by the country’s MPs on March 25.
Following the vote by MPs on the new fundamental law, which shifts the country from a presidential to a parliamentary system, Togo’s Head of State, Faure Gnassingbé, attempted to appease the population by delaying the promulgation of the text and requesting a second reading in the National Assembly.
He called for MPs to hold broad consultations with traditional and regional leaders across the country.
Opposition parties have vowed protests and resistance to the planned change of the constitution, but their initial three-day planned protests were banned the government.
The interior and security ministries said the protests planned for Thursday (Apr. 11) would seriously disturb public order.