Togo Republic has adopted a new constitution (Parliamentary Government)

A new constitution was ratified by lawmakers in Togo on Monday, converting the small West African nation from a presidential to a parliamentary system and granting parliament the authority to choose its president.

The revised language states that lawmakers, not the general public, will select the president “without debate” and “for a single six-year term.”

The change, which was approved with 89 votes in favor, one against, and one abstention, will not go into effect until less than a month before Togo’s next legislative elections.

At the moment, the president is limited to two five-year terms.

Proposed by a group of lawmakers primarily from the ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR) party, the amendment to the constitution was almost unanimously approved.

The “president of the council of ministers” will now have “full authority and power to manage the affairs of the government and to be held accountable accordingly,” according to the new constitution.

The head of the majority coalition of parties after the legislative elections is known as the president of the council of ministers. The text states that the post will be held for six years.

The opposition in the nation is underrepresented in the national assembly. It boycotted the most recent legislative elections in 2018 and criticized “irregularities” in the electoral census.

According to Tchitchao Tchalim, the head of the national assembly’s committee on constitutional laws, legislation, and general administration, “the head of state is practically divested of his powers in favor of the president of the council of ministers, who becomes the person who represents the Togolese Republic abroad and who effectively leads the country in its day-to-day management.”

Togo will enter its fifth republic under the new constitution; the last significant constitutional modification was made in 1992.

It occurs less than a month before the next legislative elections, which the opposition has declared it will participate in. The next legislative elections are scheduled for April 20 at the same time as the regional elections.

President Faure Gnassingbe is free to run for office in the next two elections since lawmakers amended the constitution in 2019 to limit the number of presidential terms to two. However, the revision did not take effect immediately.

After his father, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, took over in a coup more than 50 years ago, Gnassingbe has been in charge since 2005.

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