2024 Togo Parliamentary Elections
Sara Etukudo | 28 May 2024
Summary
Togo held their parliamentary elections on April 29th 2024, to elect the 113 National Assembly members, alongside the country’s first regional elections.
Gnassingbé’s UNIR continued to maintain majority seats in both the National Assembly and within the regional council.
The recent constitutional change has enabled the Gnassingbé regime to consolidate power as the ruling party of Togo.
Togo’s political landscape has been characterised by the longstanding rule of the Gnassingbé family and their tactics to maintain power, including electoral manipulation and repression of opposition voices. Recent 2024 parliamentary elections further solidified the dominance of President Gnassingbé's UNIR party, leading to concerns about the breakdown of democratic norms and the concentration of power in the executive branch. Despite opposition protests and international condemnation, the government's control over electoral processes and institutions, combined with restrictions on political freedoms, suggest a challenging road ahead for democratic governance in Togo.
Country Profile
Economy
GDP: USD 8.34 billion (2022)
GDP per capita: USD 942 (2022)
HDI: 0.539 (2022)
Official currency: West African CFA Franc (XOF)
Demography
Population: 9.2 million (2024)
Ethnic composition (2016)
22.3% Éwé, 14.3% Kabyé/Tèm, 9.8% Ouatchi (Gbe)
8.4% Moba, 7.6% Losso, 5.9% Kotokoli
Religion (2020)
47.8% Christianity
33.0% Traditional religions
18.4% Islam
Electoral System
The President of Togo is elected by plurality voting and serves unlimited 5-year terms.
Under the new constitution of 2024, presidential elections will be indirect, and the President will be limited to a single six-year term.
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) is a unicameral legislature of Togo with 91 seats.
At the beginning of 2024, the National Assembly passed a law increasing the number of seats from 91 to 113.
In the National Assembly, 113 members are directly elected by a closed-list proportional representation vote from multi-seat constituencies, where members serve five-year terms.
Members elected in 2024 will now serve six-year terms with no term limits
Both the President and the National Assembly are directly elected by voters
Post 2024, the President will be indirectly elected by the National Assembly and Senate rather than the population votes
Major Political Parties & Candidates
Togo is a one-party dominant state with the Union for the Republic (UNIR) in power, while the opposition parties are generally regarded as having little chance of gaining power.
Union for the Republic / Union pour la République (UNIR)
Won 59 seats out of 91 in the last election
Led by Faure Gnassingbé, who has served as the President of Togo since 2005
Ideologies:
Conservatism
National conservatism
Togolese nationalism
Political Position
Right-wing
Opposition
Union of Forces of Change / Union des Forces du Changements (UFC)
Won 7 seats out 91 in the last election (2018)
Led by Jean-Pierre Fabre since August 2010
Ideology:
Social Democracy
Political Position
Centre-left
Patriotic Movement for Democracy and Development / Mouvement Patriotique pour la Démocratie (MPDD)
Won 2 seats out of 91 in the last election (2018)
Led by Agbéyomé Kodjo
Platformed on anti-corruption
New Commitment of Togo / Nouvel Engagement Togolais (NET)
Won 3 seats out of 91 in the last election (2018)
Led by Gerry Taama
Democratic Pan-African Party / Parti Démocratique Panafricain (PDP)
Won 1 seat out of 91 in the last election (2018)
Ideology:
Pan-Africanism
Movement for Centrist Republicans / Mouvement des Républicains Centristes (MRC)
Won 1 seat out of 91 in the last election (2018)
Togo has been ruled by the same family for 57 years, Faure Gnassingbé has been in power since the death of his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, in 2005. Termed a “dynastic democracy”, this reign of power continued from election to election through repression of the opposition, election fraud and constitution alterations.
The previous 2018 parliamentary elections were boycotted by the C14 alliance, the main opposition group of the fourteen political parties, following irregularities during the election process. Gnassingbé attempted to restore the presidential limit by rectifying it to zero, allowing him to extend his rule past his third term, which ended in 2020. During the 2018 parliamentary election campaign, there was widespread repression of demonstrators, resulting in numerous casualties, including at least three casualties from gunfire. Consequently, the government imposed a ban on all marches and public gatherings in mid-December. Despite the absence of significant opposition, UNIR maintained its dominant position, securing an absolute majority with 59 out of 91 seats. The parliament also witnessed a notable rise in the representation of independent deputies, with 18 individuals securing seats. The remaining seats were distributed among the Union of Forces for Change (UFC) and four other affiliated groups.
Likewise, in the recent 2024 parliamentary elections, Gnassingbé’s UNIR won 108 of the 113 seats in the National Assembly, while the rest of the political parties shared 3 seats between them. Voting occurred amid increased political tension, spurred by the contentious approval of a new constitution in April, and a series of crackdowns on opposition protests leading to the election. Under the new constitution, Gnassingbé will now assume a new position as the president of the council of ministers, akin to the role of a prime minister, which is automatically conferred upon the leader of the majority party in the parliament. Opposition parties have deemed it an “institutional coup”, for fabricating a role that is customised for Gnassingbé, to avoid presidential term limits and continue his family’s legacy. Togo’s presidency will subsequently transition to a predominantly ceremonial position, appointed by the parliament, rather than the people, for a four-year tenure. Authority will rest with the president of the council of ministers, who will be the leader of the dominant party in the new national assembly. As long as UNIR continues to win majority seats, Gnassingbé will be able to remain in power without term limits.
The country also saw its first regional elections, where UNIR won 137 out of 179 regional councillors in the 2024 Togolese regional elections, both occurring on the same day. The regional representatives have the ability to elect members of the senate, a newly formed chamber following the new constitution, which then can vote for the new president. This further facilitates Gnassingbé’s retention of power as he reassures that he consistently wins.
Through numerous boycotts, the opposition parties have condemned the legislative elections for their inconsistencies and disputed the constitutional reform as being illegal in the court of ECOWAS. However, these efforts to protest against the new reforms were thwarted by the authorities. Political gatherings have been prohibited in Togo since a military police officer was killed during an attack on the major market in Lomé.
UN Photo/Cia Pak
Forecast
Short-term
Given the passage of the new constitution, which consolidates power in the hands of the ruling, short-term stability will likely prevail in Togo. The opposition parties will continue to be constrained by political repression and UNIR's dominance in both the legislative and regional spheres.
Long-term
With recent coups across West Africa, Togo stands at risk of descending into a period of unrest should the population grow discontented with the ongoing rule of the Gnassingbé family. The breakdown of democratic institutions and the suppression of opposition voices may also worsen popular discontent. The lack of avenues for peaceful political change and the absence of checks and balances on executive authority is somewhat likely to heighten the risk of social unrest in the future. However, sustained international pressure or domestic resistance movements may eventually compel the government to undertake genuine democratic reforms. However, such changes are likely to face significant resistance from the ruling elite.