Catholic bishops in Togo urge nation's president to postpone new Constitution
Lawmakers in Togo have voted to adopt a parliamentary system for the West African nation, but the bishops say there should be broader political dialogue before that happens.
The Catholic bishops of Togo have called on their nation's president, Faure Gnassingbé, "to refrain from promulgating the new constitutional law" that moves the country to a parliamentary system that could extend his already 19-year-rule to 2031.
The small West African country's National Assembly voted March 25 for a new Constitution that will allow the parliamentarians to elect the president "without debate" for a "single six-year term." The following day the bishops urged President Gnassingbè not to sign the new fundamental into effect until there is wider consultation.
The country's six Catholic Church leaders said they had "extensively discussed the subject and its consequences on the socio-political life of our country" during a March 21 video conference. At the end of that meeting, they said they requested "an urgent audience" with the president "to express (their) questions and reservations," which focused on whether to make this modification, the appropriateness of the chosen moment, and the adopted procedure.
"While we eagerly awaited the response to our request for an audience addressed to the president of the Republic, we have just learned that the National Assembly has adopted the amendment to the Constitution," they expressed astonishment in their statement.
A parliament without opposition
The Togolese bishops said it was urgent that the reasons and stakes of the new Constitution be explained directly "to the people, and not only to their representatives in the National Assembly".
"Such an important issue that will profoundly change the political life of our country should it not be preceded by extensive consultation and inclusive national debate?" they asked.
The bishops are urging Gnassingbé "to engage in inclusive political dialogue, following the results of the upcoming legislative and regional elections" that are scheduled for April 20.
A group of deputies mainly from Gnassingbé's party proposed the new Constitution, and it was adopted almost unanimously. The opposition has been absent from Togo's National Assembly since 2018 when it boycotted the most recent legislative elections. The nation's constitution was already amended in 2019 to limit the number of presidential terms to two. President Gnassingbé's second term runs out in 2025. If the new fundamental law goes into effect, the parliamentarians could elect him to a six-year (single) term that would allow him to stay in office until 2031.