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just goes to show that we don't care about democratization. our call for democracy in the middle east has nothing to do with that; as long as we can maintain regimes that will do business with us, we don't care what kind of government a country has.
it turns out that the president of Togo died suddenly, the military encouraged his son to take over by rewriting the constitution in order to forego any election process--a de facto coup d'?tat staged by the military.
it turns out that the president of Togo died suddenly, the military encouraged his son to take over by rewriting the constitution in order to forego any election process--a de facto coup d'?tat staged by the military.
"Oh No! Togo Breaks Ranks..."
Pro-ruling party (NPP) Accra Mail observed (Internet version, 2/
: "Just as we were beginning to bask in the glow of how the democratization bug has bitten us in the ECOWAS sub-region, Ghana's eastern neighbor, Togo, has decided to spoil the fun for all of us. In what can only be described as a coup d'?tat, the country's military last week anointed Mr. Faure Gnassingbe (Eyadema) to succeed his father President Eyadema who had died suddenly. This was in flagrant contempt of the country's constitution.... Justifiably, both the African Union and ECOWAS have rejected this imposition and called for proper democratic and constitutional niceties to be followed. But it must not end there. This must be followed by strict sanctions that would totally remove this blight from the union's and commission's territories.... What Togo has done is to break ranks with the rest of her sub-region and continent. It smacks of nothing but betrayal of a cause. We have nothing against young Gnassingbe, but by God, we have everything against the way he has been sneaked into power. He should realize that by agreeing to go with the military in this sneaky fashion, he has all but destroyed what could have been a respectable political career if he had followed the democratic process to achieve power. But it is not too late: Mr. Gnassingbe can yet redeem his and his country's image by doing the right thing. All indications are that he may even be the best among all those power seekers jostling for power in Togo, why then does he spoil his chances with this political chancre?... Mr. Gnassingbe should look at the kind of problems raging in places like DRC and Cote d'Ivoire and see for himself what messy political succession can lead to."
Pro-ruling party (NPP) Accra Mail observed (Internet version, 2/
: "Just as we were beginning to bask in the glow of how the democratization bug has bitten us in the ECOWAS sub-region, Ghana's eastern neighbor, Togo, has decided to spoil the fun for all of us. In what can only be described as a coup d'?tat, the country's military last week anointed Mr. Faure Gnassingbe (Eyadema) to succeed his father President Eyadema who had died suddenly. This was in flagrant contempt of the country's constitution.... Justifiably, both the African Union and ECOWAS have rejected this imposition and called for proper democratic and constitutional niceties to be followed. But it must not end there. This must be followed by strict sanctions that would totally remove this blight from the union's and commission's territories.... What Togo has done is to break ranks with the rest of her sub-region and continent. It smacks of nothing but betrayal of a cause. We have nothing against young Gnassingbe, but by God, we have everything against the way he has been sneaked into power. He should realize that by agreeing to go with the military in this sneaky fashion, he has all but destroyed what could have been a respectable political career if he had followed the democratic process to achieve power. But it is not too late: Mr. Gnassingbe can yet redeem his and his country's image by doing the right thing. All indications are that he may even be the best among all those power seekers jostling for power in Togo, why then does he spoil his chances with this political chancre?... Mr. Gnassingbe should look at the kind of problems raging in places like DRC and Cote d'Ivoire and see for himself what messy political succession can lead to."
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