Faure Gnassingbé
Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé (also known as Faure Eyadéma), (born 1966) is the current President of Togo. He is the son of the late President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, and was named leader of Togo following his father's death on February 5, 2005. He was a deputy to the National Assembly of Togo for Sokodé and had served as Minister of Public Works, Mines and Telecommunications from July 29, 2003. Eyadéma has studied in Paris and has a Master of Business Administration degree from Yale University. He has a reputation as a technocrat.
Politics
His appointment as President had been expected due to the poor health of his father. In December 2002, Gnassingbé Eyadéma had amended the constitution to lower the minimum age for the president from 45 years to 35 years.
According to the Togolese constitution, after the president's death, Fanbare Tchaba, the speaker of parliament, was supposed to become acting president. However, at the time of the elder Eyadéma's death, Tchaba was out of the country, and Togolese military officials claimed that Faure Eyadéma was sworn in as acting president to "ensure stability", but since Togo's borders were sealed off by the army, Tchaba was reportedly unable to re-enter the country. This prompted the African Union to denounce Eyadéma's assumption of power as a military coup.
Legitimacy
A day after his father's death, parliament dismissed Tchaba and elected Eyadéma in his place, which legalizes his succession; Eyadéma's election was unanimously approved by the deputies who were present in parliament at the time, a parliament that was elected in an election boycotted by the opposition. The parliament also eliminated a constitutional requirement that elections be held within 60 days of the president's death, enabling the younger Eyadéma to rule until the expiration of his father's term in 2008. [1]
Under pressure from others in the region, and particularly Nigeria, later in February 2005 Gnassingbé announced that new elections would be held within 60 days, but said that he would remain in office in the meantime.
See also
External link
| Preceded by: Gnassingbé Eyadéma |
President of Togo 2005- |
Followed by: Current Incumbent |
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