ECOWAS has “fruitful” talks with president about return to democratic path

West African diplomats pushing for fresh elections in Togo to end the crisis triggered by a father-to-son transition of power said they were optimistic after meeting with new leader, Faure Gnassingbe. A delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has threatened sanctions unless Togo returns to democracy, flew in to the ocean-side capital, Lome, on Tuesday in the wake of deadly riots that have killed at least four protesters. “They were full and fruitful discussions but I will not go into the details until we have discussed them with the heads of state,” Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the executive secretary of the 15-nation ECOWAS, told reporters. Accompanying Chambas were the foreign ministers from regional powerhouse Nigeria, and Niger, which holds the rotating ECOWAS chair. The delegation met Togolese ministers, retired generals and presidential aides for several hours in a downtown hotel before moving on to the presidential residence to talk directly with Gnassingbe. International condemnation has rained down relentlessly on this tiny West Africa nation since the army installed Gnassingbe as president following the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema who had ruled Togo for almost four decades. Legal tinkering to retroactively legitimise his son’s seizure of power did nothing to douse the flames, with ECOWAS, the African Union, former colonial power France and the United Nations all calling for a return to the old constitution. The previous constitution decreed that power should pass to the head of the national assembly, Fambare Ouattara Natchaba, with fresh elections to be held within 60 days. But as negotiations went on behind closed doors in downtown Lome on Tuesday, ECOWAS officials, diplomats and opposition leaders expressed reservations about the country’s ability to organise credible polls in such a short timeframe. “The constitution foresees a 60 day transition period but we have to be realistic. The former president has not even been buried yet,” said one senior ECOWAS official. “I think a timeframe of four to six months would be reasonable.” Jean-Pierre Fabre, secretary-general of the main opposition party Union of Forces for Change (UFC), agreed that the deadline set out in the old constitution was too tight. “We’ve already lost ten days since the president died and we need time to revise the electoral lists which are in very bad shape,” he told IRIN in an interview at party headquarters on Tuesday. “Personally I think it would take four months to organise elections properly.” Fabre had strong words for ECOWAS and the wider international community, saying they should get tough with Gnassingbe and prevent him keeping his grip on the presidency until elections can be held.

Jean-Pierre Fabre of the UFC

“Instead of acting as if they are in the movies, they should put pressure on him to go,” he said. “I’m talking about individual targeted sanctions, travel bans and asset freezes. He and his entourage don’t understand any other language.” Fabre said the main opposition parties wanted a return to constitutional law, which would see Natchaba, the former head of the national assembly, in charge of organising elections. But some Western diplomats have said that the presidential camp is unlikely to agree to Natchaba playing a role and have touted the possibility of a neutral civilian third party taking charge of the run-up to the polls – a compromise modelled along the lines of the resolution to a similar leadership crisis in Guinea-Bissau in 2003. Opposition leaders have staged a series of stay-home strikes and marches to protest the reins of power passing directly from father-to-son but they have met with limited success, and there is little sign of a popular revolution in the offing. However, Fabre vowed that the opposition would continue with their protests until what they and many world leaders deem a coup has been reversed. He said they hoped to get more than 50,000 people out on the streets for a march on Saturday despite a two-month ban by the government on all public rallies. An attempt to hold a protest march last weekend was stopped in its tracks by security forces and at least three demonstrators were shot dead in ensuing clashes in the sprawling opposition suburb of Be. On Monday another protester was killed by soldiers, as youths in Be built barricades of flaming tyres to keep out trucks of riot police, and roamed the streets, carrying rocks and machetes. But by Tuesday, calm had returned, shops were open and people were milling about while riot police could be seen lounging on Lome’s beachfront, kicking their heels.