Togo leader to be inaugrated in highest presidential office
Togo leader to be inaugrated in highest presidential office (X/@FEGnassingbe)
Faure Gnassingbe
will be sworn in Saturday as president of Togo's highest executive office, following a divisive constitutional reform that the opposition accuse him of using to stay in power.
According to the reform enacted last May, the west African country shifted from a presidential to parliamentary system.
The original role of President of the Republic has become a ceremonial post, and instead the president of the council of ministers would represent the majority party in the National Assembly.
That role is currently slated for Gnassingbe, whose Union for the Republic party (UNIR) won 108 of the 113 parliamentary seats last year.
However, the opposition dismissed the legislative elections as an "electoral masquerade" and accused Gnassingbe of reforming the constitution to extend his nearly two-decade rule.
The swearing-in ceremony for the pesident of the council of ministers is scheduled for Saturday morning, the constitutional court said Friday in a statement.
Installed by the military after his father's death in 2005, Gnassingbe has since won four elections. His father ruled before him for nearly 40 years following a coup.
Also on Saturday, the president of the republic will be elected by the deputies and senators.
The new Constitution abolishes the election of the Head of State by direct universal suffrage and establishes a parliamentary system.
The inauguration of the president of the council is the final stage in the constitutional change.
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