Putting an end to recurring political tensions in Togo

The document warns that Togo faces a potential election crisis if the 2006 Global Political Agreement (GPA) reforms are not consensually implemented. Despite dialogue led by Archbishop Nicodème Barrigah and US Ambassador Robert Whitehead, fundamental disputes remain over the composition of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), electoral boundaries, the voting system, and presidential term limits. The July 2013 parliamentary elections exacerbated tensions, as the ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR) won an absolute majority of 62 out of 91 seats despite receiving fewer total votes (880,000) than the combined opposition (900,000). The author argues that without urgent intervention from national actors and international facilitators like Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaoré, the opposition may resort to street protests.

• The failure to implement the 2006 Global Political Agreement (GPA) reforms creates a high risk of crisis for the upcoming local elections (scheduled for late 2013) and the 2015 presidential elections.
• Five primary areas of contention exist regarding electoral reform: the composition of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the distribution of seats by electoral district, the voting system, presidential term limits, and equitable access to state media.
• The central composition of the INEC is viewed as imbalanced, with only three of the 17 members belonging to the opposition and three representing civil society, which the opposition claims compromises decision-making.
• There is a fundamental disagreement over the voting system; the opposition demands a return to the two-round system established in the 1992 constitution, while the ruling UNIR party is accused of preferring a single-ballot system for presidential elections and closed list proportional representation for parliamentary elections.
• Disputes persist over presidential term limits; the 1992 constitution limited terms to two, but the 2002 constitution removed this limit. The opposition wants this limit applied immediately, while the UNIR party may argue the principle of non-retroactivity.
• The July 2013 parliamentary elections resulted in a discrepancy where the ruling UNIR party won an absolute majority of 62 out of 91 seats with 880,000 votes, while the combined opposition won 29 seats despite receiving more total votes (900,000).
• The ruling party is accused of maintaining a monopoly over state media, as only the official Togolese Television (TVT) covered the announcement of the July 2013 election results, despite promises from the High Authority for Audio-visual and Communication (HAAC) to involve private media.

APA

Lidawo, K. (2013). Putting an end to recurring political tensions in Togo. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/putting-an-end-to-recurring-political-tensions-in-togo

Chicago

Lidawo, Kilo. Putting an end to recurring political tensions in Togo. Institute for Security Studies, 2013. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/putting-an-end-to-recurring-political-tensions-in-togo.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lidawo |first1=Kilo |title=Putting an end to recurring political tensions in Togo |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=20 November 2013 |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/putting-an-end-to-recurring-political-tensions-in-togo |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lidawo2013putting, author = {Lidawo, Kilo}, title = {{Putting an end to recurring political tensions in Togo}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2013}, month = nov, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/putting-an-end-to-recurring-political-tensions-in-togo}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }