Strongman's son guns for poll
2005-04-24 14:13
Lome - Togolese voters chose among the son of their late dictator and two other presidential candidates on Sunday, hoping to put democracy on track after the turmoil caused by the sudden death of Africa's longest-serving ruler.
"We need a change in mentality here," said Christian Yenkey, a 50-year-old doctor waiting to cast his ballot at a secondary school in the capital, Lome. "I always voted before and never saw anything change. I'm hopeful that this election will be different."
Many hope the vote will revive this tattered country and bury Eyadema's oppressive legacy. But some fear Togo may go the way of other war-ravaged West African nations no matter which way the vote swings.
The US state department had expressed "deep concern" amid mounting tensions and pre-election violence that's left more than a dozen dead. The United Nations has ordered nonessential staff out.
The poll pits Faure Gnassingbe, the son of the late President Gnassingbe Eyadema, against Bob Akitani, a septuagenarian supported by legions of Togo's restless, disenfranchised youth; and Harry Olympio, a cousin of Togo's first democratically elected leader, who was assassinated in a 1963 coup led by Eyadema.
A fourth candidate pulled out of the race Friday after the government fired the security minister - who had called for the vote to be cancelled for fear of bloodshed.
Gnassingbe cast his ballot at a school on Sunday, walking into its sandy courtyard flanked by bodyguards. Some people danced around the ruling party candidate, while others stood stoic, arms crossed.
Atmosphere tense
"This is a big step," Gnassingbe told reporters after voting. "The fact that we even held elections is the first victory for us."
"There will not be violence," he added. "I know the Togolese people, they are not violent."
Few police or soldiers were on the streets in Lome, but the atmosphere remained tense. Many shops were shuttered, though the city remained busy with pedestrian traffic.
Nearly four decades of Eyadema's stifling mismanagement and iron-fisted rule put Togo on a downward spiral that was capped by European Union sanctions, imposed in 1993 after security forces fired on democracy activists and killed about 20 people.
Today, over one-third of the nation's 5.5 million people are nearly starving, with the average income only $270 a year, down from US$600 in the 1980s.
About 2.2 million people are registered to vote at 5 300 polling stations during the 06:00 to 18:00 poll on Sunday. Counting was to start immediately. Election officials said it could take several days for results to be announced.
When Eyadema died of a heart attack in February, a loyal military immediately named Gnassingbe, his son, president.
But international outrage - and swift pressure from African states keen to end an era of coups that's plagued the continent for decades - forced him to step down and promise elections.
- AP