[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 25, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1089]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TOGO ELECTION STATEMENT

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                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 25, 2005

  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am Congresswoman Corrine 
Brown, and have served in the House of Representatives over twelve 
years. I have observed and monitored elections in areas as diverse as 
Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean, and Haiti in particular. In 
years past, I have traveled to Africa and other parts of the world to 
monitor living conditions and the status of human rights.
  From what I saw, although there was some tension in Lome before and 
during the election, I witnessed more than anything thousands of calm 
voters who patiently waited in long lines to vote for the candidate of 
their choice. Overall, the Togolese seemed very pleased that an 
American, particularly a Member of Congress, was present during the 
election.
  The election problems I encountered on Election Day were similar to 
voting problems in the United States. These problems consisted of the 
following: Very long voting lines, polls not opening on time, 
electricity (where it existed) going out briefly, and some voters' 
names not being on the voting rolls (by the way, I found it interesting 
that the international monitors in Togo told me they would not mention 
that I was from Florida). I stayed at the polls through the evening 
when the voting boxes from Lome's polling sites were brought to City 
Hall for a public count. Many of Togo's citizens, together with 
international observers and dignitaries, were present for the count 
which lasted into the night. Although our team stayed in Lome, there 
were observers stationed throughout the country.
  By the next day, the Economic Coalition of West African States 
(ECOWAS) declared that the election, although not perfect, was 
generally peaceful and successful. ECOWAS accepted the announced vote 
tally of 60 percent of the vote for Gnassingbe Essozimna Faure, 
declaring him the newly elected President of Togo. In addition to 
meetings and briefings with ECOWAS leaders, I also met with and worked 
closely with hundreds of other international Independent Election 
Monitors.
  To me, Togo's Presidential Election of 2005 was an exceptional 
election because of the unexpected death of Togo's President, who had 
been in power for thirty-five years. Under his rule, Togo developed a 
Constitution and a Parliamentary government with a Prime Minister. And, 
according to the Togolese Constitution, within 60 days of the death of 
a President, there must be a Presidential election, and Africa's 
Coalition of Economic Countries (ECOWAS) set the election date for 
April 24th 2005.
  Indeed, Togo's recent Presidential Election was important, not just 
for Togo, but for all of Africa and for the world. Clearly, each 
African election is newsworthy as another step towards democratization. 
I believe that a free, fair and democratic election in Togo was also 
particularly important, so that post election Togo does not descend 
into chaos, and destabilize the neighboring African countries with 
refugees.
  Lastly, as a sign of ongoing progress, the elected government and the 
opposition groups are meeting in Abuja, Nigeria's capitol, to discuss 
the distribution of power within the new government. Attending the 
meeting will be the African Union's chairman, Nigeria's President 
Obasanjo, and Niger's President Tandja, who is currently presiding over 
ECOWAS. Also in attendance are Faure Gnassingbe, Togo's elected 
President, representatives of Togo's opposition coalition, led by 
exiled leader Gilchrest Olympio, defeated presidential candidate 
Emmanuel Akitani Bob and Harry Olympio, an independent candidate, as 
well as the leaders of Gabon, Burkina Faso, and the UN Secretary 
General's representative, OuId Abdallah.

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