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afrol News, 30 October - Togo's ruling party, the Rally of the Togolese People (RPT), won a landslide victory in Sunday's legislative elections, according to the official results published today. The opposition is not surprised at all, as it had called for a boycott of the elections - or the "electoral farce" - in their own words. The results reveal that RPT had won 72 of the 81 seats in Parliament, while the remaining nine seats were shared among four minor political parties; most of the close to the ruling party. RPT ran unopposed in a majority of the constituencies. The country's main opposition parties, however, had called for a boycott of the poll and did not present candidates. The parties, temporarily grouped as the Coalition of Democratic Forces (CFD) protested the way the poll was organised and that the government had broken agreements on how to organise it. Togo has been marred by fraudulent and violent elections. The 1993 elections had been the last straw for donor countries such as the European Union, which since then have suspended their cooperation with Togo. Following the violent 1998 presidential elections, the EU and African neighbours demanded a political reconciliation in Togo to normalise relationships. Negotiations between the government and the opposition first were constructive and led to an agreement on how to organise legislative elections. A key to the agreement was equal opposition participation in the Independent National Electoral Commission. Earlier this year, however, the government broke with the agreement and dissolved the commission, replacing it with magistrates of it own choice. Later on, the electoral code was changed, giving the biggest party - assumingly the RPT - far greater chances of winning a parliamentary majority. The opposition reacted with a total withdrawal from the reconciliation process. While the official results say little about the position of the ruling RPT in the Togolese electorate, the turnout may however be an indication of the party's not-to-bad popularity. According to the results - if they are to be believed - 60 percent of the electorate had participated in the poll, despite the opposition's call for a boycott. The poll therefore seems to have left everything as it was in Togo; the RPT remains in power, supporting the repressive regime of President Gnassingbé Eyadema, and the EU is not likely to normalise its ties with Togo as yet another attempt to organise multi-party elections have failed. Yet, some things have changed nonetheless. It was noteworthy that the 2002 polls in Togo went along without outbursts of violence. Almost shocking, given Togo's recent history, is the verdict by the international election observers, branding the exercise "sincere, transparent, democratic and definitely credible." Thus, the 2002 legislative elections are seen as a good omen both inside and outside Togo for the real test, coming up next year. Then, the more important presidential elections are to be held, and President Eyadema - who came to power in a coup in 1967 - has stated he will not stand for re-election. Sources: Based on Togolese govt, press reports and afrol archives
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