Strasbourg, 13/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption on Thursday in Strasbourg of a joint resolution on Togo (56 to 3 with 4 abstentions), the European Parliament denounced the “serious irregularities” which marred the presidential elections in Togo on 24 April and invited Member States to “abstain from making unilateral declarations on the regularity of the elections and, instead, to seek a common position within the EU”. France's attitude receives implicit criticism, as Paris described the conditions in which the elections unfolded as “generally satisfactory”.
The EP firmly condemns the brutal repression perpetrated by the police against people disputing the regularity of the elections and the abusive treatment of foreigners. It calls for an independent committee of inquiry to be set in place so that the authors of such exaction may be brought before justice. MEPs considers that the conditions in which the elections took place “did not comply with the principles of transparency, ,pluralism and the freedom of the people to determine their own future” and “that the legitimacy of the authorities established on the basis of such elections cannot be acknowledged”. The elections “do not comply with the conditions laid down as a precondition for the resumption of cooperation between Togo and the European Union”, the EP continues, calling on the Togolese authorities to convene a national conference with a view to finding a solution to the crisis and foreseeing further presidential and legislative elections that are “worthy of the name”.