Togo’s electoral commission has set April 24 as the date for presidential elections, news reports said on Friday.
The way for elections was cleared when Faure Gnassingbe stepped down as president last weekend after heavy international pressure.
Gnassingbe had been installed by the Togolese army as successor to his father, only hours after Gnassingbe Eyadema, at his death Africa’s longest serving leader, died on February 5.
The country’s Constitution was swiftly amended to legalise the younger Gnassingbe’s rise to power, but it caused widespread condemnation, with the West African body Ecowas imposing sanctions on the Togolese leadership, and the African Union suspending the country.
A spokesperson for the Togolese opposition parties was quoted by the British Broadcasting Corporation late on Thursday as saying that the opposition alliance would take part in the elections.
The main opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio, has however been barred from standing in the elections, since he does not live in Togo. Olympio lives in exile in France since an attempt on his life in 1993.
Faure Gnassingbe, who held the presidency for less than a month, will stand as the candidate for the ruling party, the Rally for the Togolese People.
The electoral commission said all candidates must be registered by March 26, and that campaigning would take place between 8 and 22 April. – Sapa-DPA