Togo has a new Constitution, which will move the country into the Fifth Republic. The text, proposed by a group of deputies mostly from the ruling Unite party, was adopted on the night of Monday to Tuesday, with 89 votes for, one against and one abstention. It was voted on less than a month before the next legislative elections and while the mandate of the deputies expired at the end of December. The country is thus moving from a presidential regime to a parliamentary regime.
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With this new Constitution, there will no longer be a presidential election in Togo, although the next one was to take place in a year. The country retains a President of the Republic who will be elected by the deputies and senators meeting in Congress, for a single mandate of six years, although his role becomes symbolic.
The one who will exercise full authority will be the president of the Council of Ministers, also appointed for six years, who manages government affairs and represents the country abroad. This function returns to the leader of the majority party after the legislative elections.
The new Constitution must be promulgated within fifteen days of its adoption. It replaces the text currently in force, adopted by referendum in 1992 and modified three times since.
THE Togo should therefore enter the Fifth Republic before the next legislative elections, scheduled for April 20, more than three months after the end of the mandate of the deputies currently sitting in the Assembly. A situation which arouses criticism from part of the opposition and civil society who denounce a coup of force and a constitutional coup d’état.
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“It does not seem to me that the people, tomorrow, will have any additional power”
There are numerous reactions following the vote on this new Constitution. Some opposition parties see it as a maneuver by the president to stay in power. The Togolese bishops’ conference asks Faure Gnassingbé to postpone the promulgation of the text. Its defenders highlight a gain for the stability of the country and increased power for the Togolese via Parliament. Will this parliamentary regime actually give more power to the Togolese people? ? Me Jean Yaovi Dégli, lawyer and president of the civil society movement Bâtir le Togo, answers questions from Magali Lagrange.
Togo: explanations from Me Jean Yaovi Dégli on the adoption of the new Constitution