Faure Gnassingbé

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Gnassingbé (2014)

Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé (born June 6, 1966 in Afagnan ) is a politician and incumbent President of the Republic of Togo . He belongs to the second largest ethnic group in the country, the Kabiye .

Gnassingbé was president of the country from February 5 to 25, 2005, but had to resign due to massive international pressure. He won the presidential election on April 26, 2005, as well as the subsequent elections in 2010, 2015 and 2020.

Life

He is the son of long-time President Gnassingbé Eyadéma and the only one of around 50 children who went into politics. Gnassingbe was as a representative of the constituency Sokodé deputy in the National Assembly of Togo .

Gnassingbé attended secondary schools in Lomé . After studying at the Dauphine in Paris (Business Management), he studied in the USA at Washington University , where he completed his training with a Master of Business Administration . He then served under his father in various functions in the state administration.

Gnassingbé achieved his political breakthrough with two electoral victories in the Blitta constituency in the parliamentary elections of 1999 and 2002 ; the latter were boycotted by the opposition .

From June 29, 2003, he was Minister for Public Services, Mining, Post and Telecommunications in Koffi Sama's cabinet .

Seized power in February 2005

After the death of his father Gnassingbé Eyadéma on February 5, 2005, he was proclaimed his successor on the same day. In view of the poor health of his father, the transfer of power to Gnassingbé had long been expected. In December 2002, Gnassingbé Eyadéma enacted an expansion of the country's constitution that reduced the minimum age for the office of President from 45 to 35 years.

According to the Togolese constitution, the provisional management of official business would have fallen to the President of the National Assembly, Fambaré Ouattara of the ruling Rassemblement du peuple togolais (RPT). Elections should have taken place within the next 60 days. Since he was in France at the time of Gnassingbé Eyadéma's death and was unable to return in time because the army had closed the borders, the Togolese army took advantage of the power vacuum and entrusted Faure Gnassingbé with the office of president to ensure the stability of the country .

The African Union and the European Union have protested against the unlawful seizure of power and saw it as signs of a military coup . France called for the constitution to be respected. In any case, Gnassingbé's appointment as president was a breach of the constitution, and the opposition spoke of a coup .

Faure Gnassingbé resigned at the end of February 2005 after continuing international pressure. The UN welcomed this step. On April 24, 2005, the presidential election took place, which Faure Gnassingbé won with over 60% of the vote, according to the official election results. The opposition accused him of massive electoral fraud. However, the election result was confirmed by the Togolese Supreme Court in early May and Gnassingbé was officially sworn in as president on May 4, 2005.

On March 4, 2010, a presidential election took place in Togo for the first time since the change in power in 2005 . According to the preliminary election result announced on March 6, 2010, the son and successor of long-time President Eyadéma Gnassingbé, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, was re-elected with 60.92% of the valid votes. The candidate of the largest opposition party, the UFC, Jean-Pierre Fabre, surprisingly lost with 33.94% of the valid votes. He has announced that he will be challenging the election result. The remaining five candidates came together to 5.17% of the valid votes.

On April 25, 2015, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé again won the presidential election in Togo . In 2019, Gnassingbé implemented a constitutional amendment according to which he could in principle remain President until 2030. On February 23, 2020 , he was elected for a fourth term with 70.78% of the vote.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ election party in Togo In: fm4.orf.at . March 11, 2010, accessed March 3, 2020.
  2. ↑ Provisional results show Togo's president wins re-election; Opposition calls for cancellation. In: usnews.com . April 29, 2015, accessed March 3, 2020.
  3. ↑ Togo's Faure Gnassingbe wins third term as president. British Broadcasting Corporation , April 29, 2015, accessed November 16, 2017 .
  4. ^ Togo: President Faure Gnassingbé re-elected. In: Spiegel Online . February 24, 2020, accessed February 24, 2020 .
  5. ↑ La messe est dite. In: republicoftogo.com . March 3, 2020, accessed March 3, 2020 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Gnassingbé, Faure
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gnassingbé, Faure Essozimna (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Togolese politician, President of Togo
DATE OF BIRTH June 6, 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Afagnan