Parliament reverts back to old constitution but calls grow for Gnassingbe to resign

Togo's parliament on Monday reversed a hastily-adopted constitutional amendment that would have allowed Faure Gnassingbe, the country's new ruler, to stay in power until 2008 without holding fresh presidential elections. Under pressure from African leaders, the United Nations and Western aid donors, the single chamber legislature, restored the former provision for presidential elections to be held within 60 days of the death of a ruling head of state. But Gnassingbe, who seized power with the support of the army two weeks ago following the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, continued to defy international opinion by insisting that he would stay in power to supervise the poll in early April. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) reacted swiftly to Gnassingbe's decision to remain head of state, announced in a televised speech to the nation on Friday night. The 15-nation bloc immediately imposed an arms embargo on the former French colony. It also banned Togolese government leaders from travelling in the region and ECOWAS member states with diplomatic missions in Togo recalled their ambassadors from the capital, Lome. "ECOWAS... considers the declaration to have fallen far short of the expectations and demands of ECOWAS leaders," the organisation said in a statement on Saturday. The Togolese army installed 39-year-old Gnassingbe on 5 February within hours of the death of his father, who had ruled the country with an iron hand for 38 years. Parliament, where Eyadema's Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) commands an overwhelming majority, hurriedly tweaked the constitution and the electoral code 24 hours later to retroactively legitimise the succession and allow Gnassingbe to put presidential elections on ice for up to three years. World leaders demanded a return to the old constitution, which foresaw presidential elections within 60 days and the head of the National Assembly, Fambare Ouattara Natchaba, taking charge in the meantime. But Gnassingbe, a burly business graduate, only partially acquiesced, promising polls but vowing to stay in power so as to ensure Togo's continued stability during the run-up to elections. The 53-nation African Union joined international condemnation of this move, warning that it would meet on Thursday to decide whether to slap its own sanctions on Togo. Gnassingbe must go Some world powers went further, calling directly for Gnassingbe to go. "The United States does not accept as legitimate the designation of Gnassingbe as interim president and calls on him to step aside immediately," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement at the weekend.

Faure Gnassingbe is weathering the diplomatic storm

And South Africa, whose president Thabo Mbeki has built something of a reputation as a peace broker in countries such as Burundi and Cote d'Ivoire, added its voice to the chorus. "Mr (Gnassingbe) who is now in power has no constitutional authority or legitimacy to call for the elections or to organise elections," Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma was quoted as saying by the South African Press Association. The European Union, which had been on the verge of ending a 12-year freeze on aid to Togo when Eyadema died, warned that the small West African country risked becoming an international pariah state. "Faure Gnassingbe's decision places Togo in a situation of cutting itself off from the international community," said Louis Michel, EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. Stalwarts of the Eyadema regime rejected such criticism. Defending Gnassingbe's decision to stay on, Togo's Foreign Affairs Minister Kokou Tozoun said a dangerous power vacuum would be created in this country of five million people if Gnassingbe stood down now. "Can we be without a president for 60 days?" the foreign minister told Reuters news agency. "We prefer to have sanctions and be in peace and security rather than descending toward civil war." Supporters of the regime claim that Gnassingbe can legitimately serve as interim head of state since parliament sacked Natchaba, who was out of the country, as leader of the house after Eyadema's death and appointed Gnassingbe to the post instead. Clock ticking for elections More than two weeks have elapsed since Eyadema died while being flown abroad for medical treatment and the clock is now ticking for elections to be organised. However, many diplomats and political analysts say it will take a extraordinary effort to organise free, fair and credible elections in just over six weeks. The opposition party does not trust the regime to run a free election, claiming that letting Gnassingbe organise the polls is like letting the fox look after the chickens. Three of the country's leading opposition parties declined to propose nominees to the National Electoral Commission on Monday to signal their lack of faith. Opposition protests to Gnassingbe's seizure of power have been gaining momentum in this narrow country, sandwiched between Ghana and Benin. Journalists and diplomats said a protest march on Saturday brought at least 10,000 people onto the streets of Lome, some waving branches, others banging drums, in the biggest show of public dissent yet. Earlier attempts to protest had been put down by the security forces, who fired live bullets into the crowd, killing four people. Buoyed by their weekend success and increasingly vocal international condemnation of the government, opposition leaders have vowed to stage another march on Wednesday and demonstrations every Saturday after that. But Gnassingbe's supporters, who packed into the grounds of the president's residence on Saturday, have also been flexing their muscles and tensions remain. According to government security sources, 7,500 people were admitted for the rally in support of Gnassingbe. Youths belonging to the ruling RPT cruised the streets in a convoy of a dozen vehicles on Monday, honking their horns and yelling "You've not seen anything yet." They tried to penetrate into the suburb of Be, an opposition stronghold, but were turned back by riot police. At the main university campus, where professors went on strike last week, students said RPT youths had turned up in two blue four-wheel drive cars and fired shots in the air, sending people fleeing in panic.