Togo's president nominated again
2003-05-02 10:23
Lome - Togo's President Gnassingbe Eyadema has accepted his party's nomination as candidate for a presidential election in the west African country in one month's time, Prime Minister Koffi Sama announced on Thursday.
General Eyadema has ruled over the small nation since January 1967, making him the longest-serving leader on the continent, ahead of Omar Bongo, who took charge of Gabon in December the same year.
"I am happy to announce that the president of the republic, Gnassingbe Eyadema, has bowed to the request of activists of the Togolese People's Rally (RPT) to sacrifice himself once again and stand for the highest executive post in the presidential election of June 1," Sama said.
"President Eyadema will thus be the RPT candidate," added Sama, who is also secretary-general of the ruling party.
The prime minister's address to the press, which came the day nominations of presidential candidates closed, was widely expected after the RPT chose Eyadema as its candidate during a party conference last Friday.
Eyadema himself had, however, refrained from making any public statements on whether he would seek a third elected term since the introduction of multiparty politics in the 1990s.
The main contender against the general, who first came to power in a coup and has been widely challenged over the human rights records of his successive governments, is main opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio.
Returned from exile
Olympio, head of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC), returned from exile on Saturday to receive a hero's welcome from his supporters, but he has already seen an obstacle placed in his way to the polls.
The management of the country's tax service has declared that it cannot give a tax receipt to Olympio, who is the son of the country's first president, Sylvanus Olympio, assassinated in 1963.
Regarded as one of the most serious of some half a dozen contenders against Eyadema, Olympio had been in exile for his own safety, according to his aides, but by his own admission, he has not had any taxes to declare in Togo in the past year.
A tax receipt is required in a dossier of a candidate.
Eyadema in July 2001 said that he planned to retire in 2003, in line with pledges he made in July 1999 under an accord signed in Lome, which was aimed at ending a decade of tensions and deadlocks among political parties over voting procedures and fairness.
However, last December the national assembly, where the RPT has an overwhelming majority of 72 seats out of 81, opened the way to a third term for Eyadema with a constitutional amendment.
The head of state had kept quiet about his own intentions throughout.
The national assembly also took up an electoral clause obliging any candidate for the presidency to have been a resident in Togo for the 12 months preceding the vote, which would rule out Olympio.
Most opposition parties, forming a Coalition of Democratic Forces (CFD), have so far been unable to agree on a joint candidate to put forward in next month's vote, which has led a small bunch of individuals to stand separately.
Olympio, who stood against Eyadema in the 1998 presidential election, claimed to have won that poll and said the results were rigged to allow his rival to remain in power.
He has appealed to the international community to help ensure that the forthcoming election is free and fair.