Ballot box probe in Togo
2007-10-21 15:47
Lome - Togo's national election commission said on Sunday that it could not announce the full results of last week's parliamentary election because of apparent irregularities
during vote-counting in the capital Lome.
The commission said in a statement broadcast on national
radio that boxes had been delivered to counting centres in Lome
without official seals and that results had been recorded from
polling booths which did not appear on official lists.
"Given this situation and in an effort to maintain calm, the
electoral commission has decided not to announce provisional
results for Lome," the statement said.
Ruling RPT won a majority of seats
The commission said it had deferred the matter to the former
French colony's constitutional court, the body responsible for
confirming the final results and hearing any legal challenges.
Provisional results from most of Togo announced on Wednesday
showed that the ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) won a
majority of at least 49 of 81 parliamentary seats. Electoral
officials said voter turnout was 95%.
Togolese authorities hope the election will lead to a full
resumption of international aid to the country, which has
suffered decades of authoritarian rule and periods of bloody
unrest since independence in 1960.
The European Union, once Togo's biggest donor, froze most
aid in 1993, citing the country's poor democratic record.
- Reuters