Veteran Togo leader seen winning third term, extending family rule
By David Lewis and John Zodzi LOME (Reuters) - Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe, unshackled by term limits and facing a divided opposition, looks set to win a third term in Saturday's election, extending his family's leadership of the tiny West African nation to more than half a century. The opposition has lodged last-minute complaints over the system of tallying results from the election, which was delayed by 10 days to clean up voter lists, but tensions are well below the levels of 2005 when hundreds died in post-election violence. Gnassingbe, whose father Gnassingbe Eyadema led Togo for 38 years until his death in 2005, recovered from the turbulent start to his first mandate and has pursued a goal of turning Togo into a regional services hub. The capital Lome is home to pan-African banking giant Ecobank and flourishing regional airline Asky, launched five years ago. But grinding poverty and striking civil servants are reminders of the challenges facing the nation of seven million. "We think Mr Gnassingbe will win quite easily and that things in Togo after the election will carry on more or less as before," said Francois Conradie of South Africa-based NKC Independent Economists. Talks broke down this year over re-introducing term limits, removed during his father's rule, meaning Gnassingbe could stand without rejigging the constitution. Togo lacks the youth-led social movements that prevented bids by leaders in other West African nations such as Senegal and Burkina Faso from winning a third term in recent years. Gnassingbe's path to re-election has been helped by his rivals' inability to unite around a single candidate. Togo's single-round presidential election hands the incumbent an advantage against a splintered opposition. Jean-Pierre Fabre, who came second in the 2010 vote with 34 percent and leads the biggest opposition party in parliament, is likely to be the closest of Gnassingbe's four rivals. APATHY Apathy, though, may be the biggest obstacle. "I don't want to vote on Saturday as I have voted twice before and the results have shown that it is Faure Gnassingbe who wins," said Kodjo Ametoko, a Lome taxi-motorcycle driver. "Who says it will be any different this time?" In his last rallies, Gnassingbe warned against complacency, asking supporters to go door-to-door to encourage voting. Fabre is from the south, a traditional opposition stronghold. By contrast, Lome is dominated by billboards of the president and posters of his flagship road, port and airport developments. Togo's annual economic growth has exceeded five percent in recent years and ships anchored offshore point to increased traffic through Lome's new container port, opened this year. A Western diplomat acknowledged the solid economic growth and infrastructure developments but added: "The place is still poor." Per capita income has doubled under Gnassingbe but still only stands at around $550 a year. Last-minute talks between election organisers and political parties focused on how results are collated and announced in a bid to avoid violence sparked by premature claims of victory. "It has to be done properly ... Otherwise there could be anarchy," said Paul Amegakpo, a senior local election observer.
