The father was Africa's longest-reigning dictator, ordered his enemies executed, and claimed to be chosen by God.
Now the son is running for president of Togo in a weekend vote already shadowed by violence, with protesters threatening to die fighting if the family of the late dictator Gnassingbe Eyadema maintains its stranglehold on this tiny, impoverished west African country. As tension mounts, Togolese were praying for peace and hoping for democracy.
Togo's interim head of state on Friday vowed the elections will go ahead, and fired a minister who had called for the ballot to be canceled because of fears of bloodshed.
PHOTO: EPA
Some 2.2 million people in this nation of 5 million are registered to vote during the 6am to 6pm polling taking place today. Counting was to start immediately, but it was unclear when results would be announced.
The front-runner is Faure Gnassingbe, whose strongman father Gnassingbe Eyadema ruled for 38 years -- longer than any other leader except Fidel Castro.
Eyadema died of a heart attack Feb. 5, ending an oppressive era in which political foes were routinely tortured and killed, dissent was crushed by jackboot security forces and spies prowled the dust-blown boulevards and halls of university campuses.
Togo's military thrust Gnassingbe to power shortly after Eyadema's death, prompting such local and international outrage he stepped down and promised elections in 60 days, as stipulated by the Constitution.
Gnassingbe's three rivals in the race -- Bob Akitani, Harry Olympio and Nicolas Lawson, all longtime opposition members -- have called for the elections to be postponed, charging irregularities in voter registration and exclusion from the electoral process. Their concerns, though, have not prompted them to withdraw.
In the run-up to the vote, riot police have been accused of killing several anti-regime demonstrators. The government recently banned all private TV and radio stations from covering the elections.
On Friday, as questions over whether the vote could go ahead raised tensions, opposition protesters appeared on the streets, wielding machetes and nail-studded clubs.
Gnassingbe is backed by the military and has his father's political machine at his disposal. And as a candidate, his style seems to mimic that of his father, who kept his pinky fingernail aristocratically long and wore expensive suits and gold-rimmed sunglasses.
Gnassingbe -- a businessman educated at George Washington University in the US -- prefers tailored suits and expensive shoes. He buzzed between rallies in a rented white helicopter, unlike his main rival, the 75-year old Akitani, who campaigned in tropical shirts and traversed the country in a four-wheel drive.
Despite the echoes of his father, Gnassingbe presents himself to voters as a modern technocrat, with the youthful energy and fresh ideas it takes to bring reform in a nation where the average annual income is US$270, making it among the poorest in Africa.
"I am the new image of Togolese youth, the new image of Togo," 39-year old Gnassingbe said on a recent campaign stop in the southern town of Keve.
"I'm going to take this country to the next level," he declares. "More freedom, more democracy. It's the only way we can solve our problems."
For Gnassingbe to be taken seriously abroad, he has to escape his father's tall, ominous shadow. But at home, some observers say, Gnassingbe has a real shot at winning the vote if elections are fair.
Even some in the opposition have said Akitani, the main opponent, is too old to lead Togo into a the future.
Gnassingbe has been treated almost like a deity as he campaigned in Togo's forested interior. Speakers line up to praise him as a "unifier" and village elders in gilded crowns bow to him.
"Demonstrations and violence will not give us solutions," said Fousse Blaise, 40, after listening to Gnassingbe promise hospitals, a new town market and a peaceful election day at one rally. "We need jobs and peace, and Faure is the one promising this change.
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
RSS