The party of Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé largely won the legislative elections on Monday April 29 in Togo, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) announced on Saturday May 4, which will allow the head of state to remain in power. under a new Constitution adopted in April.
The Union for the Republic (Unir), the presidential party, obtained 108 deputies out of 113, according to the provisional results announced in Lomé by the president of the CENI, Dago Yabré, after a count broadcast live on the national television channel . The participation rate was 61%, according to the CENI.
Read also | In Togo, President Faure Gnassingbé emerges stronger from the legislative elections
These results, which have yet to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court, constitute a triumph for Mr. Gnassingbé’s party, in power since 2005 following his father, who remained at the head of state for nearly thirty-eight years. He should remain the master of Togo’s destiny for at least the next six years.
The new Constitution, adopted on April 19 by the outgoing deputies, shifted the country from a presidential system to a parliamentary system. Power now resides in the hands of a president of the council of ministers, who is automatically the leader of the majority party in the National Assembly. Which is the case for Faure Gnassingbé, president of Unir.
Stay in power indefinitely?
This constitutional reform was strongly criticized by the Togolese opposition and civil society organizations, who denounced a “institutional coup” and see it as a way for Mr. Gnassingbé to remain in power indefinitely.
According to the previous Constitution, the head of state could only have run for one last term in 2025. The opposition claims that the abolition of direct suffrage to elect the head of state will allow the latter to be reappointed without term limit as long as his party wins the legislative elections.
Read also | In Togo, a new Constitution tailor-made for Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé
For the ruling party, on the contrary, constitutional reform makes the authorities more representative. According to the new Constitution, the President of the Republic, appointed by the deputies for four years, has only an honorary function.
The elections took place peacefully on Monday April 29, despite a tense political climate. In the days that followed, several international organizations expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the vote. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF) said on Wednesday they welcomed “the establishment of a permanent consultation framework”as well as “good progress of the electoral campaign” and greeted “the holding of elections peacefully”. The day before, an electoral mission from the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) judged that the vote had been “free, fair and transparent”.
Demonstrations banned since 2022
For their part, some opposition voices began to criticize the conduct of the elections. Nathaniel Olympio, president of the Parti des Togolais (PT, opposition) regretted Wednesday on the social network “international organizations [aient] validated the fraudulent elections » on Monday, deploring that they had deployed “less than seventy observers” in all the countries.
Read also: Togo: how Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé maintains his stature as regional mediator
The Dynamics for the Majority of the People (DMP, a grouping of opposition political parties and civil society organizations) claimed to have observed throughout the electoral day “an excessive number of votes in several centers”of the “delays in starting voting” and electoral lists “not displayed”.
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Thirteen political parties and civil society organizations in Togo filed an appeal before the ECOWAS Court of Justice in April to demand the withdrawal of the country’s new Constitution. Attempts by the opposition to demonstrate against the new Constitution fell on deaf ears, with authorities preventing opposition leaders from meeting. In Togo, demonstrations have been banned since 2022, after an attack on the large market in Lomé during which a gendarme was killed.
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Someone placed stones on the tracks near Kojetín. A passenger train ran into them
#stones #tracks #Kojetín #passenger #train #ran
According to her, the act took place on April 15 sometime between 6:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. “On the single-track railway line from Kojetín to Měrovice nad Hanou, near kilometer marker number 69.1, an as yet unknown offender placed several pieces of stones with a diameter of approximately seven centimeters on both tracks,” said the spokeswoman.
According to her, the stones were spread over a length of three to four meters on each of the tracks. “The electric motor unit of the passenger train, in which there were six people at the time, ran over the laid stones. Despite the quick reaction of the train driver, who applied the emergency brake after seeing the stones, it was not possible to prevent running into this obstacle, which caused a strong blow,” stated Zajícová.
The train was traveling at a speed of approximately 60 km/h at the time. “The electric motor unit did not derail, and fortunately this fact did not affect the further functionality and driving of other railway vehicles. There was no material damage,” noted Zajícová.
The police are investigating the case on suspicion of committing a crime of public endangerment and on Monday asked the public for help in clarifying it.
“If anyone has information on persons who were at the site at the given location and time, or if you have other information about the case, please contact us on line 158 or directly contact the criminalists of the 1st general crime department in Přerov on the phone numbers 974 778 323 or 974 778 459,” concluded the police spokeswoman.
The train ran into a row of stones in Pilsen. Someone stacked them on the tracks
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Someone placed stones on the tracks near Kojetín. A passenger train ran into them
Boy (17) turns himself in to the police after assaulting a German MEP
© IMAGO/dts news agency
After the brutal attack on German MEP Matthias Ecke, a 17-year-old boy turned himself in to the police. He says he is one of the four perpetrators of the attack.
The 41-year-old politician from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s left-wing SPD party was attacked and assaulted by four people in the Striesen district of the German city of Dresden on Friday evening around 10:30 PM while he was hanging up election posters. He was seriously injured and was taken to hospital. There he underwent emergency surgery. In the meantime, according to his party members, he is doing “well considering the circumstances”.
Teenager turns himself in
In the night from Saturday to Sunday around 1 a.m., a 17-year-old reported to the police in the south of the city of Dresden, says the criminal investigation service LKA (Landeskriminalamt). According to German media, he was accompanied by his mother and confessed to the facts. As it is believed that the teenager will not abscond, he has not been taken into custody. The teenager would not have been known to the police for previous incidents.
The identity of the three other perpetrators is not yet clear. According to witnesses, the victims are men between 17 and 20 years old. The investigation continues.
Not any attack
Shortly before the attack on Ecke, a 28-year-old employee of the Green Party (Grünen) had also been kicked and beaten while hanging posters. Authorities suspect the same group is responsible for both attacks. Nothing is yet known about the motivations of the perpetrators.
“Our team was attacked a few meters away by the group of four,” Valentin Lippmann (30), member of the Greens parliament in Dresden, told Bild. “They also hit our helper in the face and kicked him. Thank God he was not as seriously injured as Mr. Ecke and was able to return home after outpatient treatment by the emergency services.”
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https://www.worldysnews.com/boy-17-turns-himself-in-to-the-police-after-assaulting-a-german-mep/
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