Government puts off Sunday's parliamentary elections

Togo's legislative elections which were due to take place on Sunday have been put off, the government announced in a communique on Tuesday. No new date was fixed for the polls. The latest postponement follows a refusal by opposition members to join the National Independent Electoral Commission, which was mandated to run all election-related activities and whose membership was to consist of ruling party and opposition members. Other revised aspects of the electoral code have also been a major bone of contention. Opposition members, during a 20 February meeting with President Gnassingbe Eyadema, had conditioned their membership to the commission on the release from jail of Yaovi Agboyibo, leader of the opposition Comite d'Action pour le Renouveau. The government, however contends that Agboyibo's detention was not a valid reason for the boycott, saying the opposition participated in the commission's work for weeks while he was in detention. Initially sentenced to a six-months prison term on 3 August 2001 for defaming Prime Minister Agbeyome Kodjo, Agboyibo was kept in jail to face a second charge of instigating an attack on a political rival in 1997, although his initial indictment was quashed in January. During the February meeting, Eyadema told the opposition that because of the separation of powers, he could not intervene in the matter but he was willing to grant Agboyibo a presidential pardon if he asked for it. He also urged them to join the electoral commission so that the elections could take place on 10 March. The elections were meant to replace the 1999 legislative ballot boycotted by the opposition parties on grounds that presidential polls held in June 1998 were rigged. Originally set for October 2001, the polls were postponed for lack of preparedness and financial constraints.