In Togo, while the mandate of deputies expired at the end of 2023, the President of the Republic signed a decree this Saturday, February 24, postponing by one week the date of the legislative and regional elections. The latter will take place on April 20, and the electoral campaign will begin on Thursday April 4. In a joint declaration, twelve Togolese civil society organizations denounce an incomplete democratization process.
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Civil society organizations in Togo believe that the current government lacks legitimacy to organize the legislative and regional elections of April 20, 2024, because the Togolese National Assembly was not renewed at the end of 2023 as planned in the electoral calendar.
“ We would have liked that we could still organize national meetings with a view to cleaning up the political atmosphere which is today very tense due to the non-renewal of the National Assembly within the constitutional deadlines. But the government clearly does not share this saving vision and wants to organize the next legislative and regional elections in absolute disorder, just to further push the opposition to boycott in order to carve out yet another mechanical Parliament like the outgoing Parliament. », estimated Monzolouwè Atcholi Kao, president of the Association of Victims of Torture in Togo, one of the organizations signing the declaration.
A call not to boycott the vote
These civil society organizations, however, call on the opposition parties not to boycott the upcoming elections: “ We ask, in view of the experiences of the boycott, the opposition not to boycott and to participate in its elections despite everything. We believe that this situation cannot lead to the development of the country. This is not worthy of a state that wants to be democratic. »
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