Togo Political Tension over Constitution

Political tension mounted in Togo as police broke up an opposition news conference amid backlash over a constitutional reform criticized as a power grab.

The West African country's parliament voted for the new constitution, switching from a presidential to a parliamentary system.

With less than a month before legislative elections, the opposition fears the move will clear the way for long-serving President Faure Gnassingbe to remain in power indefinitely.

Around 30 gendarmes armed with truncheons interrupted the conference, which had been called by opposition parties and civil society groups to address the change.

The officers said the event at the ADDI opposition party headquarters in the capital Lome did not have the necessary authorisation.

Later, the head of the National Alliance for Change (ANC) opposition party Jean Pierre Fabre hit out against the reform at another press conference.

"Enough is enough," he said. "We are determined to take up the fight. We are going to take the battle to them."

NGOs regularly criticize Togo for infringing human rights, and the opposition counts around a hundred political prisoners.

David Dosseh, spokesman for the FCTD civil society coalition, called for "the population to mobilize to put an end to this travesty."

"This is a battle that will last for months," he warned, urging the international community and West African bloc ECOWAS to "assume their responsibilities".

The change to the constitution, proposed by a group of lawmakers mostly from the Union for the Republic (UNIR) ruling party, was adopted almost unanimously.

The president will be chosen "without debate" by lawmakers "for a single six-year term", and not by the public, according to the new text.

The president can currently serve a maximum of two five-year terms.

It is not yet known when the reform -- approved with 89 votes in favor, one against and one abstention -- will come into force.