Tension rises ahead of poll
2005-04-22 09:20
Lome - Togolese voters will be asked to choose on Sunday between the son of the man who ruled them with an iron fist for more than 37 years, and a 74-year-old opposition second string who is feared to be too old for the job.
The presidential elections will be closely watched by regional leaders who forced them to be held after an attempt by the ruling party to put them off for years, and warned this week against a repeat of the violence that has marked the campaign.
The poll will essentially pit Faure Gnassingbe, son of long-time ruler Gnassingbe Eyadema, against Emmanuel Akitani Bob, candidate of the so-called radical coalition headed by Gilchrist Olympio's Union of Forces for Change (UFC).
Olympio, the son of Togo's assassinated first president, lives in exile in Paris and is barred from standing by a clause in the constitution inserted to exclude non-residents from office.
Violence has flared
Gnassingbe was enthroned as president by the army and a compliant parliament on the death of his father in February, but international pressure spearheaded by the regional Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) forced Lome to back down and make him face the ballot box.
But violence and tension in the tiny state, a former imperial German and later French colony sandwiched between Benin and Ghana, have mounted in the past few weeks.
The opposition has staged demonstrations calling for the polls to be put off, saying it has not been given proper time to prepare and accusing the authorities of manipulating voter rolls.
The government accuses the opposition of inciting violence which has seen dozens wounded and a small number killed in clashes with security forces and militants of the ruling Togolese People's Rally (RPT), for the purpose of securing a postponement.
Niger's President Mamadou Tandja, current head of Ecowas, warned late on Wednesday that Togo's neighbours would not stand any more violence up to or during the election and would take measures, including sanctions, against anyone deemed responsible.
Two other candidates from small opposition parties, businessman Nicolas Lawson and Gilchrist Olympio's cousin, Harry Olympio, are also standing but are given no chance of success.
Gnassingbe, 39, a financial expert trained in the United States and France, was his father's adviser on business matters in key sectors such as phosphates, Togo's main resource, telecommunications and oil prospecting.
He has promised a mix of continued stability and measures to improve the lot of the poor and the young, and is stressing his own comparative youth.
Akitani Bob, who was a student leader 50 years ago and gained a third of the votes when he challenged Eyadema in June 2003, angrily denies claims by critics that he is too old.