By James Tasamba
KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Legislative and regional elections originally scheduled this month in Togo will be delayed, the president’s office announced Wednesday, hours before the start of campaigns.
The election had been scheduled on April 20 for 4.2 million voters, with the electoral campaign due to start on Thursday.
But without setting a new date, the presidency cited the need to carry out “consultations” on disputed constitutional reforms adopted last month.
“The government will slightly rearrange the calendar of legislative and regional elections,” the presidency said in a statement.
The postponement come days after Togo's National Assembly on March 25 adopted amendments to the country's constitution, switching the country from a presidential to a parliamentary system.
The move attracted criticism from the country’s activists and opposition leaders, who called for protests to stop President Faure Gnassingbe from signing the bill into law, which would scrap the direct election of future presidents.
When Gnassingbe received the bill, he sent it back to the National Assembly for a “second reading.”
The new legislation proposes a single term of six years for the Togolese president instead of five years, renewable once.
The opposition views the changes as a ploy to allow Gnassingbe to seek reelection when his term ends in 2025.