Togo – Prime Minister resigns and is reappointed

The prime minister of Togo, Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo, who was appointed in September 2008, presented his resignation to newly re-elected President Faure Gnassingbé, who promptly reappointed him and asked him to form a new government.

The official government website is reporting that the prime minister will try to form a government of ‘great openness’ (“large ouverture”), but notes that the aim is not to build a government of “national unity” because, it says, there is no need to do so given that President Gnassingbé was re-elected with just over 60 per cent of the vote.

The problem is that President Gnassingbé’s election continues to be contested by the opposition, particularly by the main opposition candidate, Jean-Pierre Fabre of the UFC, who, according to official figures, won nearly 34 per cent of the vote. However, the international community has, in effect, decided to support President Gnassingbé, who was recently sworn into office for a new term. The report of the EU electoral observation mission is available here. The report of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie is available here.

On the official government website, there is an indication that the UFC might be willing to participate in the government. However, no such indication is given on an opposition newspaper site.

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