body-container-line-1

Togo awaits results of presidential vote marked by low turnout

By Marc Bastian, Emile Kouton
Togo A member of Togo's electoral commission counts ballots for the presidential election vote at a polling station on April 25, 2015 in Lome.  By Issouf Sanogo AFPFile
APR 27, 2015 LISTEN
A member of Togo's electoral commission counts ballots for the presidential election vote at a polling station on April 25, 2015 in Lome. By Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File)

Lome (AFP) - Only just over half of voters turned out for Togo's presidential polls, election officials said Sunday, boosting the chances of incumbent Faure Gnassingbe winning a third term and extending his family's almost 50-year rule over the tiny west African nation.

Of some 3.5 million voters called to polling stations on Saturday, only 53 to 55 percent took part, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) said.

Counting began as soon as polling booths closed Saturday, but by late Sunday no results had yet been announced. The CENI has another five days to announce the outcome.

Turnout was significantly lower than in 2010, when nearly two thirds of registered voters took part.

Experts had said the narrow chance of a loss for Gnassingbe would depend on massive voter turnout, but civil society groups said participation rates were "very weak".

Gnassingbe has been in power since the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema in 2005, winning contested elections that year and five years later. His father came to power in 1967, and ruled the country with an iron fist.

Gnassingbe's only credible challenger is Jean-Pierre Fabre of the five-party coalition called Combat for Political Change (CAP 2015).

But analysts say divisions within the opposition camp combined with the benefits of incumbency made Fabre's prospects of victory very dim and created a sense of resignation among his supporters.

The head of the ECOWAS election observation mission, which sent 100 observers to monitor the polls nationwide, said there had been no major incident "likely to affect the integrity of the voting process".

"Overall, the election of 25 April 2015 was free, transparent and organised in an acceptable manner," the west Africa bloc's Amos Sawyer told reporters.

The head of the CENI, Taffa Tabiou, said Sunday the electoral commission was still "comparing" results to ensure any announcements made "reflect reality".

Territorial Administration Minister Gilbert Bawara meanwhile said he hoped to have some indication of results "within a few hours".

Few people in the former French colony of roughly seven million people have felt the benefit of recent economic growth and according to the government, unemployment is rife at 29 percent.

While Lome is considered an opposition stronghold, many in the countryside would rather keep Gnassingbe in power than vote for an opposition they mistrust.

Currently there are no limits to the number of times a president can stand for re-election. The opposition has called for a two-term limit.

body-container-line