Togo Leader Rules out Limiting Presidential Mandates

Togo leader Faure Gnassingbe on Tuesday rejected opposition calls for limiting the number of presidential mandates and gave a strong signal that he would seek re-election next year.

The head of state has come under mounting pressure to change the constitution to limit a president to a maximum two, five-year terms of office from the current provision of no limit.

Gnassingbe has been in power since 2005 and took over from his father, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, who governed the tiny West African nation for 38 years.

On an official visit to Ghana, Faure Gnassingbe said any announcement about his candidacy would be made first in Togo "and if my party trusts me".

"But all I can tell you is that the constitution in force will be completely respected," he said in rare public comments, indicating that he will not bow to opposition demands.

Police in Togo's capital, Lome, last Friday fired teargas at protesters who defied a government ban on marching to the country's parliament as part of their call for political reform.

The demonstrators brandished banners calling for the 50-year reign of the Gnassingbe family to end and for the president to implement institutional and constitutional changes.

Lawmakers in the national assembly have previously rejected the changes.

Gnassingbe met the head of the opposition and presidential hopeful Jean-Pierre Fabre for talks on Saturday after which the latter indicated that protests would continue before next year's vote.

The president made no comment after the protests and the meeting.

But he said on Tuesday: "There's an unwavering principle which is the respect of the constitutional provisions of the constitution in force.

"The opposition and political parties can of course have an opinion on one thing or another but what we all need to aim for is first and foremost stability and respect for constitutional provisions."