PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Togo: Opposition militants plan nationwide demos for political reform in Togo
Lomé, Togo (PANA) – Togolese opposition militants and civil society activists will on 13 January take to the streets in the capital, Lomé, and in the other regions across the country to press their demand for political reforms "before any election" takes place, reliable sources here told PANA on Sunday.
The march, that will be followed by daily rallies around the country, is organized by the Combat for Political Change in 2015 (CAP 2015), which groups several opposition parties and human rights organizations (ODDH) to "demand the consensual adoption and establishment of constitutional and institutional reforms before any election in Togo."
The demonstration, initially planned for 5 January, was postponed to give a chance to talks at Parliament within the Law Commission. According to the sources, however, those talks were unsuccessful.
President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé on Friday signed a decree establishing a commission on political, institutional and constitutional reforms in Togo, and charged Mrs Amadou Abdou-Nana Awa-Daboya, Mediator of the Republic, as its chairperson.
But, following the failure of talks at the Law Commission at Parliament and the apparent lack of confidence among political stakeholders, the opposition and the civil society have opted for demonstrations.
They demand limitation of the presidency to two terms, reasonable demarcation of electoral boundaries, reintroduction of the two-round uni-nominal majority poll and the review of the prerogatives of the Constitutional Court, the High Audiovisual Authority (HAAC) and the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI).
-0- PANA FAA/BEH/MSA/AR 11Jan2015
The march, that will be followed by daily rallies around the country, is organized by the Combat for Political Change in 2015 (CAP 2015), which groups several opposition parties and human rights organizations (ODDH) to "demand the consensual adoption and establishment of constitutional and institutional reforms before any election in Togo."
The demonstration, initially planned for 5 January, was postponed to give a chance to talks at Parliament within the Law Commission. According to the sources, however, those talks were unsuccessful.
President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé on Friday signed a decree establishing a commission on political, institutional and constitutional reforms in Togo, and charged Mrs Amadou Abdou-Nana Awa-Daboya, Mediator of the Republic, as its chairperson.
But, following the failure of talks at the Law Commission at Parliament and the apparent lack of confidence among political stakeholders, the opposition and the civil society have opted for demonstrations.
They demand limitation of the presidency to two terms, reasonable demarcation of electoral boundaries, reintroduction of the two-round uni-nominal majority poll and the review of the prerogatives of the Constitutional Court, the High Audiovisual Authority (HAAC) and the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI).
-0- PANA FAA/BEH/MSA/AR 11Jan2015
