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Togo court affirms contested election of incumbent president

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Constitutional Court of Togo on Wednesday affirmed the election of incumbent President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe despite five suits alleging voter fraud filed by the opposition. The court held that the accusations made by the opposition were unsubstantiated. The final vote totals decided by the court gave Gnassingbe 60.88 percent of the vote, and his main opponent, Jean-Pierre Fabre, 33.93 percent. The final results closely resembled those originally reported after the March 4 election. Fabre has rejected the court's decision and stated that he plans to hold demonstrations against the election. Last month, the court ruled that presidential candidate Kofi Yamgnane was not eligible to run in the election due to inconsistent records of his date of birth and conflicting immigration documents. Yamgnane asserted that the decision was a pretext to eliminate the most dangerous candidate to Gnassingbe's ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RTP) party. Gnassingbe took office in February 2005 immediately following the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who was president of Togo for 38 years and one of the country's longest serving leaders. Gnassingbe's unconstitutional succession to office was met with international outcry, and pressure from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member countries led to his resignation. Togo's Parliament then named Abass Bonfoh, a member of the ruling party, as acting president. In May 2005, the constitutional court confirmed Gnassingbe as the official winner of the disputed presidential election.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 18, 2010 (boomark / email).