Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-02-24-Speech-4-138"
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"en.20050224.12.4-138"2
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"Mr President, it is not only in monarchies that the Head of State’s children succeed to power; it is also, alas, not unknown in republics. It has already happened in Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, more recently in Togo, and may well happen soon in Egypt as well. It sometimes happens that elections are announced to decide the succession, but it is known in advance who will emerge from them as the victor. In Togo, this step was missed out; the Gnassingbé family took power by violent means from the Olympio family a long time ago, and they want to hold on to it. An amendment to the constitution, accomplished in the twinkling of an eye following the death of the Head of State, prevented the President of the country’s parliament from succeeding him temporarily and preparing new presidential elections in good time, and instead made it possible for his son to take over the state as if he were the heir to private property. The fact is that the son is in no more legitimate a position than his father; what is happening is the continuation of a long-past
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Continuing this state of affairs has robbed Togo of the hope that it, having been a German and then a French colonial possession, and then for a long time a home-grown dictatorship, might develop into a democracy. Up to now, it has been cause for popular lamentation that power has almost always been in the hands of profiteers who were supported by military might and were not concerned with serving the national interest; their concern was rather with taking up their privileged positions. Not only in Togo, not only in Africa, but throughout the world too, this state of affairs must come to an end.
Instead of being selective in our outrage at what is happening in Togo, let us help to put a stop to the military and economic protection of regimes of this kind. That is what matters at the present moment. The unfortunate fact that it is the rule rather than an exception means that we have to ensure that these events do not repeat themselves and that it would be a good thing if free elections could be held in Togo within a short period of time."@en1
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