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Rally of the Togolese People

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Rally of the Togolese People
Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais
LeaderGnassingbé Eyadéma
(1969–2005)
Faure Gnassingbé
(2005–2012)
FounderGnassingbé Eyadéma
Founded1969
Dissolved2012
Succeeded byUNIR
HeadquartersLomé, Togo
Youth wingYouth of the RPT (from 1972)
IdeologyAfrican nationalism
Right-wing populism
Political positionRight-wing to far-right[citation needed]

The Rally of the Togolese People (French: Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais, RPT) was the ruling political party in Togo from 1969 to 2012. It was founded by President Gnassingbé Eyadéma and headed by his son, President Faure Gnassingbé, after the former's death in 2005. Faure Gnassingbé replaced the RPT with a new ruling party, the Union for the Republic (UNIR), in April 2012, dissolving the RPT.[1][2][3]

History

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The RPT was founded in late 1969, under President Gnassingbé Eyadéma.[4] The party's first Secretary-General was Edem Kodjo.[5] It was the only legally permitted party in the country, a role further entrenched in a new constitution adopted in the 1979 referendum when all other parties were banned. The president of the party was elected to a seven-year term as president of the republic, and confirmed in office by a plebiscite.

This article is part of
a series about
Gnassingbé Eyadéma

President of Togo

1967–2005

Government

After 22 years of single-party rule by the RPT, a National Conference was held from July to August of 1991, establishing a transitional government that reinstituted multiparty elections.[6] The RPT was legally dissolved by the National Conference on 27 August 1991.[7] After the party was banned in November 1991 by the High Council of the Republic (the transitional parliament), a political crisis occurred in which soldiers loyal to Eyadéma, who demanded that the ban on the RPT be lifted, captured Prime Minister Joseph Kokou Koffigoh in December.[6] Koffigoh was released after agreeing to the soldiers' demands and forming a new government that gave a RPT member secondary responsibility for military affairs (while Koffigoh himself remained Defense Minister).[6] Eyadéma remained President throughout the crisis.

In the parliamentary election held on 27 October 2002, the party won 72 out of 81 seats in the National Assembly of Togo. Following the death of Eyadéma in February 2005, the RPT designated his son, Faure Gnassingbé, as the party's leader and its candidate in the presidential election of 24 April 2005, in which he won 60.2% of the vote.

The RPT's 9th Congress was held in December 2006, and Solitoki Esso was elected as the party's Secretary-General for a three-year term.[8] Previous Secretaries-General include Koffi Sama, elected in late 2000, and Dama Dramani, elected in late 2003.

The RPT won 50 out of 81 National Assembly seats in the October 2007 parliamentary election.[9]

Electoral history

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Presidential elections

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Election Party candidate Votes % Result
1972(referendum) Gnassingbé Eyadéma 867,941 99.9% Elected Green tickY
1979 1,296,584 100% Elected Green tickY
1986 1,737,771 100% Elected Green tickY
1993 691,485 96.5% Elected Green tickY
1998 811,837 52.1% Elected Green tickY
2003 1,345,159 57.8% Elected Green tickY
2005 Faure Gnassingbé 1,327,537 60.2% Elected Green tickY
2010 1,234,044 60.9% Elected Green tickY

National Assembly elections

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Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Result
1979 Gnassingbé Eyadéma 1,250,942 100%
67 / 67
 Increase 67 Increase 1st Sole legal party
1985 1,024,533 100%
77 / 77
 Increase 10 Steady 1st Sole legal party
1990 1,175,602 100%
77 / 77
 Steady Steady 1st Sole legal party
1994
35 / 81
 Decrease 42 Decrease 2nd Minority government
1999
79 / 81
 Increase 44 Increase 1st Supermajority government
2002
72 / 81
 Decrease 7 Steady 1st Supermajority government
2007 Faure Gnassingbé 922,636 40.19%
50 / 81
 Decrease 22 Steady 1st Majority government

Notable politicians

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References

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  1. ^ "Togo : le RPT est mort, que vive l'Unir" (in French). Radio France Internationale. April 15, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  2. ^ Yvette Attiogbé (April 14, 2012). "The Dissolution of the RPT – It is Official". togo-online.co.uk. Archived from the original on August 9, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  3. ^ Folly Mozolla (April 15, 2012). "Faure Gnassingbé has created his party Union pour la République (UNIR) in Atakpamé". togo-online.co.uk. Archived from the original on August 7, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  4. ^ "Background Note: Togo", U.S. Department of State, August 2007.
  5. ^ "EDEM KODJO À VISAGE DÉCOUVERT" Archived 2005-02-17 at the Wayback Machine, diastode.org (in French).
  6. ^ a b c "Togo Leader Adds to Cabinet to End Crisis", The New York Times, 2 January 1992.
  7. ^ "Resolution No.3 du 27 Aout 1991 — Portant dissolution du Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais — RPT Parti Unique Parti-Etat", Journal Official de la Republique Togolaise, 17 December 1991 (in French).
  8. ^ "Togo: Ruling party ends congress, elects new secretary-general", Radio Togo, Lome (nl.newsbank.com), December 19, 2006.
  9. ^ "Le RPT remporte les premières élections pluralistes" Archived 2008-01-24 at the Wayback Machine, Republicoftogo.com, October 30, 2007 (in French).
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