A major Togolese opposition movement on Thursday called for a massive turnout in the April 29 legislative elections in which a disputed constitutional reform has become a central issue.
Political tensions have run high in Togo since lawmakers this month approved the reform that opposition parties believe allows President Faure Gnassingbe, put in office by the military in 2005, to extend his grip on power.
Gnassingbe succeeded his father, who ruled the small West African state for nearly four decades after leading a coup.
Dressed in their party's orange T-shirts hundreds of activists from the National Alliance for Change (ANC) gathered in a Lome district.
'Disorder in parliament'
"We must have a majority at the end of these elections to stop the disorder in the parliament," Francis Pedro Amuzu, an ANC candidate in the elections, said.
Under the new constitution, the presidency becomes a symbolic role elected by lawmakers for a four-year term.
Political power will rest with a new president of the council of ministers, a kind of prime minister's post, which the opposition fears Gnassingbe will take to allow him to bypass presidential term limits.
The position will be automatically held by the leader of the majority party in parliament.
'Power for life'
Gnassingbe is chief of the Union for the Republic Party (UNIR) that dominates parliament.
ANC leader Jean Pierre Fabre said the constitutional amendment "has only one objective: Keeping Faure Gnassingbe in power for life."
Ruling party representatives say the new parliamentary system strengthens Togo's democracy.
➤ Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.
