2023-05-02 14:50:19
As regards the participation or not in the next legislative elections, we have our little idea which we have already expressed on several occasions on other occasions. We said that, whether it is the camp of opponents in favor of participation, or that of the irreducible who do not want to hear regarding it, no one currently has the magic wand to drive out the regime of dictatorship and arrive at democracy. Nor is it a reason to throw oneself fists and feet tied into an electoral adventure that would look like, neither more nor less, one more legitimization of the Gnassingbé regime, decried all year round by the same opponents. Any opposition, worthy of the name, should first unite to form a solid whole. It would be in this way that the opposition might weigh in and make itself respected by the power in place, and impose its points of view that the dictatorship regime might only accept, because the majority of the population would henceforth be won over to such a group speaking with one voice. It is at this price that a possible participation in the elections whatever they are would have a direction.
But what are we seeing on the ground? First of all, the Togolese opposition or oppositions today present a picture that is difficult to describe. On April 10, there was the small revolution led by the masterful hand of Mrs. Brigitte Adjamago, former coordinator of the Dynamic Monsignor Kpodzro (DMK), followed by almost all the former members of the said political organization, to free themselves from the influence of Monsignor Kpodzro and found the Dynamics for the Majority of the People (DMP). Despite the sympathy we have for the prelate for his courageous commitment and for Agbéyomé Kodjo, political reason, and reason in general, especially in a country where the law of the strongest reigns, would like that immobility is not the best choice. This is why we welcomed the birth of the DMP, while at the same time challenging its first leaders to succeed in order to make people forget this not very kind blow to Monsignor Fanoko Philipe Kpodzro. The homogeneous character of the new grouping which brings together political parties and civil society associations reminds us of a certain C14 of the years 2017 and 2018 who had succeeded in shaking the group of predators which rules Togo.
For the shrewd observer of Togolese political life, and especially of the ups and downs within the Togolese opposition in recent years, the chronology of our reasoning would lack a sizeable political formation of which we have no right to remain silent. name, when we speak above all of the opposition union. We want to refer to the orange formation, the National Alliance for Change (ANC). A political party normally essential in the Togolese political landscape, especially on the opposition side. Who does not remember that the first leader of this political party, Mr. Jean-Pierre Fabre, was once leader of the opposition? But we are surprised that such a political formation as the ANC, which should be the torchbearer of the Togolese opposition, is the one that refuses the outstretched hand of the leaders of the DMP for a new union. Our assertion was unfortunately confirmed during a meeting of the ANC last week by its first leaders. Mr. Eric Dupuy did not hesitate to recall the “no” of his political party to an opposition union; Above all, he did not hesitate to chant their slogan “we are us” taken up in chorus by the unconditional supporters of the orange party.
To sum up: millions of Togolese men and women have been victims of a regime of terror for half a century. The death of Éyadéma Gnassingbé in 2005 and the dynastic succession that followed, which made Faure Gnassingbé the new de facto president of Togo, did nothing to change the ordeal of the unfortunate Togolese populations. Quite the contrary! Everyone remembers the 2017 uprising initiated by the Pan-African National Party (PNP), followed by the establishment of the coalition of 14 opposition political parties (C14), savage repressions that claimed many victims across all the countries. Tikpi Atchadam had to go into hiding to save his skin, his head being put at price. Many activists and sympathizers of his political formation are still vegetating in prison.
Then came the episode of February 2020 with the famous presidential elections resulting in the departure into exile of Monsignor Kpodzro and Messan Agbéyomé Kodjo. A few weeks ago, on April 10, 2023, Madame Brigitte Adjamago turned her back on the prelate by leaving the DMK, taking with her almost all the former members of the political group. They bear on the baptismal font a new political organization, the Dynamics for the Majority of the People (DMP). The first leaders of the new dynamic wrote to the Head of State to complain regarding the poor conditions relating to the organization of the upcoming elections, and the undemocratic nature of the CENI and all its branches. In their letter, listing all the shortcomings in support, they demand the correction of all the shortcomings noted before the holding of the next ballot or ballots. Requirements that require a strong opposition, able to speak with one voice. This is why the DMP undertakes to contact all the other opposition parties, most of which are none other than former members of the C14, including the ANC.
Approached, the leaders of the orange party refuse to join the others.
«…It is time that for its own survival and for the salvation of future generations, the Togolese people mobilize now, in a decisive patriotic outburst, in order to regain their flouted rights and put an end to their ordeal. Definitely say no to the regime of imposture and oppression…“. Here is an extract from the message of Mr. Jean-Pierre Fabre, President of the ANC, on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of our country’s independence. Very beautiful sentences containing wishes whose realization requires the establishment of a well-knit opposition and speaking with one voice. Otherwise, we find it hard to see how the first leader of the orange formation might go regarding it alone with his party, without the others, so that the Togolese people mobilize, in a decisive patriotic outburst, in order to regain their flouted rights and put end to his ordeal. As he says so well in his speech.
If those who are committed to liberating the country from the dictatorial yoke, through their political parties or associations, are truly and always animated by this spirit of sacrifice, and always have this objective in mind; they should know that going it alone in the face of this Togolese regime that needs no description is the worst choice. We said it at the beginning of our remarks: one does not go to elections with a dictatorship regime without leaving feathers. But in Togo’s politically intractable situation, if the elections can serve as a springboard for a new union of upstream opposition parties, why not? But categorically rejecting the union, when we are not in a democracy, might play the power game that we claim to be fighting. For what and for whom did we commit ourselves then?
Samari Tchadjobo
Germany
1683058312
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