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Committee for a Workers' International

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Socialist Democracy March - April 2005

On Saturday, February 5, 2005, the Africa's longest serving head of state and dictator, Gnassingbe Eyadema died. He ruled Togo since 1967, came to power via a military coup. Immediately he came to power, he dissolved all political parties and governed relatively for more than two decades unchallenged. He, however, succumbed to popular demand of Togolese people by legalising political parties again in 1991, though, this did not bring a true democracy to the Togolese, as he manipulated elections results to win three times.

Immediately after his death, Togo's military high command in connivance with the parliament declared Eyadema's son, 39-year old Faure Gnassingbe the new president. He was a junior minister in his father cabinet. The military said that the declaration of Faure as the new president was to prevent a leadership vacuum, since the speaker of parliament, Fanbara Ouattara Natchaba, who was supposed to take over as a result of president's death was out of the country.

The installation of Eyadema's son as the new president was a flagrant violation of the Togo's constitution. According to provisions of the constitution, the speaker of the parliament, Fanbara Ouattara Natchaba, should have succeeded the president with the obligation to call elections within 60 days. To achieve the installation of Faure as the new president, he has to be made Member of Parliament and chosen to replace Natchaba as speaker and subsequently sworn in as the new president. The parliament also went further to change the constitution so that there would be no legal requirement to hold elections in Togo within 60 days of leader's death. This constitutional amendment allowed Faure to complete his father's term.

Following the installation of Faure as the new president of Togo, various international bodies and countries such as African Union (AU), ECOWAS United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU), France and US condemned the process of picking Faure and demanded respect for the country's constitution. Specifically, African Union (AU) whose chairman is the Nigeria's president Olusegun Obasanjo described the coming to power of Faure as a coup and therefore, unacceptable.

More importantly is the demonstrations and street protests embarked upon by the Togolese against the unconstitutional seizure of power by Faure. This eventually forced Faure to quit power but instead of installing the illegally deposed speaker, Fanbara Ouattara Natchaba, as the president, the pro-Faure parliament has made an associate of Faure, Abass Boufon, the interim president pending the new elections in April. Faure has however made it known that he would be contesting as presidential candidate in the forthcoming elections.

There is no doubt that the resignation of Faure as the president is a smokescreen to deceive the Togolese people. Unless the working masses, students, youth and other oppressed layers in Togo take practical steps to participate in the forthcoming elections with a view to take over power, Faure will definitely return to power through manipulations of election results.

The self-serving African leaders like Obasanjo will turn blind eye to such expected monumental electoral fraud. This will expose the hypocritical democratic pretension of these leaders who swaggerly arrogate to themselves the credit of Faure�s exit albeit temporarily. This is not accidental as those elements also rigged themselves into power.

The most fundamental step to be taken by the working people of Togo is to form a political party with a socialist agenda. Without this, even if the political party of the working people accidentally takes over power on the basis of the present unjust and exploitative capitalist system in Togo, there is no way such a party could make a fundamental difference from past regimes in Togo. This is because the problems (social, economic and political) confronting the Togolese working people, like people of most other neo-colonial countries, are systemic problems that go beyond the personality or political party in the power.

One of the cardinal programmes that must be carried out by a working people's party with socialist agenda is the nationalisation of the commanding height of economy. In other words, the commanding heights of economy must be publicly owned and democratically controlled by the Togolese working people. This is the only way a working people's party can meet the yearnings and aspirations of the poor people of Togo.

Socialist Democracy March - April 2005