Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lome (Fides Service)- There is expectancy in Togo for the outcome of a special session of the National Assembly convoked today 21 February by deputy speaker Abbas Banfo. On the agenda changes to articles in the Constitution amended recently to allow the son of the dead President Gnassingbe Eyadema to take power without respecting the country’s established procedure.
The late president’s son Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema was installed by the army after hasty changes in the constitution were made by the National Assembly which then dismissed its speaker Famabre Natchaba who according to the law in force should have taken power ad interim.
The national assembly has 81 members of whom 72 belong to the party of the late president, the Togolese People’s Union.
Meanwhile international pressure on Togo to restore the process of democracy has increased. The European Union, calling for a return to constitutional order without delay, said that if Faure Gnassingbe remained in power it would be a “violation of constitutional order and the rule of law”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 21/2/2005 righe parole)
