(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Togo's opposition yesterday stayed away from parliament, blocking the passage of the government's bill for political reform and forcing a referendum.
The bill was published last week on the eve of protests calling for a revision of the constitution that developed into demands for President Faure Gnassingbe to step down.
A four-fifths majority was needed for it to be approved but the opposition no-show meant it only secured 62 out of 91 votes, with one abstention.
Eric Dupuy, spokesman for the main opposition National Alliance for Change (ANC) party, called the National Assembly session a 'sham.
As he ended proceedings, assembly president Dama Dramani said: 'For want of this majority, the bill, passed with a two-thirds majority...is subject to a referendum. The people will therefore have their say.
Only 57 deputies were present for the extraordinary hearing, 56 of them from Gnassingbe's Union for the Republic (UNIR) party.
Six others voted by proxy.
The bill involves changing the constitution to limit a president to a maximum of two five-year terms and the introduction of a two-round voting system.
Opposition MPs want a return to the 1992 constitution, which provided for term limits but was changed by Gnassingbe's father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, when he was in power.
They are angry the measures will not be retroactive and that the clause stating that 'no one can serve more than two terms has been taken out.
That means the current president, who has been in power since Eyadema's death in 2005, could contest the next election in 2020 and the one after that in 2025.
Renewed protests have been called for today and tomorrow.
UNIR has also planned marches on the same day.
ANC leader Jean-Pierre Fabre said there will be 'no let-up as long as Gnassingbe remains in power.
Unlike other West African nations, Togo has resisted public pressure to introduce term limits.
Gnassingbe, whose family has been in power since 1967, has now won three elections, the results of which have been contested by the opposition.
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