Togo opposition leaders on Sunday said they were not hopeful of political change, as parliament prepared to discuss potential constitutional reform after days of huge anti-government protests. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets this week calling for presidential term limits and denouncing President Faure Gnassingbe and his family’s half-century in power. Gnassingbe took over as leader in 2005 after the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who had come to power in 1967 after a military coup.
Togo’s opposition has long called for constitutional reform and in an apparent concession, the government has proposed a new bill to parliament, which has been recalled for Tuesday.
But Eric Dupuy, spokesperson for the CAP 2015 opposition grouping, described the bill as a “delaying tactic”.
“We don’t expect anything from it. We still don’t know the details of the bill. At this stage it’s difficult to talk about it,” he told AFP.
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