{"id":912,"date":"2010-03-08T15:46:38","date_gmt":"2010-03-08T20:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/delicious.com\/url\/e3d1e6a80338340b9777ac00545af3d9#tomathon"},"modified":"2011-03-12T19:54:52","modified_gmt":"2011-03-13T00:54:52","slug":"togo-oppostion-promises-popular-uprising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.tomathon.com\/mphp\/2010\/03\/togo-oppostion-promises-popular-uprising\/","title":{"rendered":"Togo: Oppostion promises “popular uprising”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Protestors<\/a><\/p>\n

Protesters and police face off in Lome.<\/p><\/div>\n

The headlines from Lom\u00e9<\/a>, Togo are tension inducing. For Togolese or those with family there, it must be excruciating.<\/p>\n

It appears that President and dictator’s son Faur\u00e9 Gnassingb\u00e9 has been elected with government reporting 1,243,044 versus 692,584 votes for nearest rival Jean-Pierre Fabre of the UFC. Official turnout was 2,119,829 (~%64), so the 5 opposition parties netted only 877,785.<\/p>\n

But their leaders have cried foul, saying votes were bought, the satellite reporting system was fixed, and voters were intimidated. Fabre declared victory right after the vote, even threatening to name a provisional government. Combined opposition marches in Lome were twice attacked by police this weekend, with members tear gassed, HQ barricaded by soldiers, while Fabre vowed struggle: \u201cWe will launch a popular uprising until victory is ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile ECOWAS has praised the vote, mostly thanks to Faure Gnassingb\u00e9<\/a> backer and President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaor\u00e9<\/a>. The EU, which had 200 observers, claims to have no evidence of vote fraud. But they do note that in the north, Gnassingb\u00e9’s father’s region, Fuare’s people were passing out gifts, including quarter price rice. Other reports counted a 16 to 1 number of RPT posters in Lome, an opposition strong hold. UFC charges that their voters feared a repeat of 2005, where the army literally hunted down and killed those suspected of supporting the opposition. This is likely true, but neither of these tactics change the vote numbers. The RPT has used everything available to buy and bully the vote, and they have succeeded. ECOWAS or EU failure to factor in this is criminal. The EU even helped to create a special Togolese paramilitary police unit (the FOSEP) to “protect” the vote. This despite the long suspicion that Gnassingb\u00e9 the younger is a puppet of elements within the security forces. I’m sure some stirring EU powerpoint presentations were provided, but that hardly changes the balance of forces.<\/p>\n

The fact is, postcolonial rulers have gotten very good at fixing ‘free’ elections in Africa, passing the muster of democracy in a proforma fashion, while retaining real power. When the opposition makes a stick, this can pass quickly, or create instability which can fester for decades. Will this end like Gabon? Or Niger? Or — God help us — Cote d’Ivoire.<\/p>\n

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