R 231740Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY LOME
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8662
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L LOME 000373 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2018 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM TO UV
SUBJECT: TOGO: UFC HOLDS 2ND PARTY CONGRESS, CHOOSES 
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR 2010 ELECTIONS 
 
REF: A. LOME 263 
     ¶B. LOME 337 
     ¶C. LOME 360 
 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Susan Walke for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary. The Union of the Forces of Change (UFC), the 
largest opposition party in Togo, held its 2nd party Congress 
on July 18-19 in Lome, Togo. The party released a number of 
resolutions concerning the political way forward and chose 
its candidate for the 2010 presidential elections. Aside from 
a highly-publicized tiff with Action Committee for Change 
(CAR) president Yaovi Agboyibo and disagreement within the 
youth wing of the UFC, the congress was a success. In a 
subsequent meeting, UFC president Gilchrist Olympio expanded 
upon his vision of the way ahead, but with considerable 
frustration as to how obstacles remain in his own path to be 
elected head of state.  The party faces difficulties unless 
constitutional and institutional reforms are made and the 
process of reconciliation is furthered. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) General.  The theme of the UFC party congress was 
"Realizing true change in Togo with a UFC candidate." The 
opening ceremony included speakers from several small parties 
allied with the UFC. All major diplomatic missions were 
represented at the opening, and France, China, and the U.S. 
at the closing.  (Note. The Chinese told a diplomatic 
colleague afterward that their attendance at a political 
party meeting was a breakthrough for them; they had never 
gone to one before.  End Note).  Sessions were well attended 
and went very late into the night.  Even state television 
gave good coverage to the opening once it finished showing 
the wrestling that President Faure was watching up north. 
The state press summarized the closing, and the private press 
gave the results far more attention.  The Gendarmerie 
provided Olympio good security protection. 
 
¶3. (U) Leadership.  At the conclusion of the congress, the 
new governing board of the UFC was announced. Gilchrist 
Olympio was re-elected as the president of the party and also 
chosen to be the party's presidential candidate in 2010. 
Jean-Pierre Fabre continues as the Secretary General, and 
Patrick Lawson is now 1st Vice-President instead of 3rd. 
 
¶4. (U) Issues.  Olympio struck a responsive chord in his 
opening speech when he observed that after 40 years of 
independence, 80 percent of the population lives below the 
poverty line.  He added that the situation has worsened with 
the "dizzying" increase in prices of daily necessities and 
cement and called for a number of urgent actions to be taken. 
 The party congress adopted some sixteen resolutions and 
issued statements on social issues, specifically the security 
of the population, political prisoners, alleviating the food 
crisis, cleaning up corruption, and ending the suffering of 
the Togolese people. It did not always offer ideas as to how 
to resolve the problems. One resolution requested that 
implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) 
continue, asking specifically that Burkinabe President Blaise 
Compaore help with political reforms and requesting greater 
opposition participation in the Truth, Justice, and 
Reconciliation process.  Several resolutions discussed the 
upcoming elections and security concerns and requested 
international community assistance. 
 
¶5. (C) Disconnects.  Two minor glitches dogged the congress. 
The UFC publicized the fact that it had invited CAR President 
(and former Prime Minister) Agboyibo to attend the congress, 
hinting that it was a done deal. That would have meant that 
the country's third most important party, and its other best 
known opposition figure, were tacitly aligned with the UFC. 
When we met with Agboyibo last week, he said angrily that he 
would not be attending due to an insult he received from 
Olympio.  Agboyibo complained that the UFC wants the 
opposition to unite as long as the UFC takes the lead role, a 
position his party will not support. This turn of events was 
a surprise, as Fabre indicated a few months ago that 
relations between the parties had vastly improved (reftel A). 
The second incident involved the youth movement within the 
UFC, which rose up in opposition against the person the 
leadership was foisting on it as national secretary for youth 
and actually took over the party congress for a time.  The 
leadership finally agreed to give its candidate a provisional 
appointment, with new youth bodies to be elected in all 
prefectures, and they in turn to elect a new representative. 
We encountered some bad feelings about party democracy after 
that incident. 
 
¶6. (C) Meeting with Olympio.  Ambassador and PolOff called on 
the UFC President at his residence July 22. We were joined by 
Fabre, Lawson, and eventually the Nigerian Ambassador to 
Togo, among others.  Olympio detailed the many reasons he is 
not technically eligible to run for president and lamented 
the lack of clarity pertaining to the rules.  He is currently 
not qualified to run based on residency requirements, the 
fact that he holds dual citizenship and claims not to know 
how to legally give up his French citizenship, and age 
limits. These limitations were added during 2003 
constitutional changes.  We told him that ruling party 
heavies assured us that President Faure intends to turn a 
blind eye at these restrictions but Olympio noted, rightly, 
that it is the Constitutional Court and not Faure which ends 
up ruling on such issues.  President Olympio did suggest he 
would feel better if Faure would state in writing that he 
will disregard these legal issues. 
 
¶7. (U) "Victimization."  Olympio continues to characterize 
his party as solely a victim. He stated that he has gone 
along with many "unfair proposals" just to ensure that the 
democratization process continues to move forward.  The UFC 
President noted several times that both the ruling Rally of 
the Togolese people (RPT) and the UFC received roughly 
900,000 votes in the October 2007 legislative elections, yet 
the RPT has 50 seats and the UFC only 27 due to unfair 
districting. According to Olympio, while his party realized 
the inequity of the ratio, it did not want to stop the 
process and thus allowed it to move forward. He also stated 
that while he was consulted as to who would be appropriate as 
a facilitator for the GPA, none of his suggestions were 
chosen, and Blaise Compaore was dropped upon him. While he 
does not have a problem with Compaore as the facilitator, he 
is worried that the process is not continuing to advance, and 
that Compaore has become tired of the entire business and 
believes that Togo is a minor issue (for him).  In both 
meetings led by Compaore in which the UFC representatives are 
vastly outnumbered by others of lesser importance, and in 
other actions liked to the GPA, Olympio feels as if the UFC 
continues to give in with little gain. 
 
¶8. (C) Comment. The theme of change is an obvious choice 
given the dictatorial history of Togo.  However, the results 
of the UFC party congress give little indication as to how 
the UFC would govern, if elected.  While criticism of the 
government abounds, the UFC does not offer any alternate 
solutions. We were seeking to obtain from Olympio an idea as 
to how he intends to proceed over the next two years. 
Instead, he has again now left the country, to return who 
knows when.  Perhaps most importantly, Olympio continues to 
see himself personally as the target of the machinations of 
the ruling establishment and focuses on little else, rather 
than carefully considering his role and what is best overall 
for the party.  Some within the party appear disgruntled with 
his continued leadership.  Indeed, the new slate of officers 
was literally handed down to the Congress from Olympio and 
his close associates, with the delegates given no chance to 
vote.  There is ongoing speculation that either Lawson or the 
more dynamic UFC Secretary General, Jean-Pierre Fabre 
(chairman of the UFC parliamentarians) wants to take 
Olympio's place.  The youth revolt was an interesting 
phenomenon at the congress, since the party has been and 
continues to be run by the same older generation of men, the 
majority of whom are from southern Togo.  While some new 
women and a younger person or two have now been added to the 
UFC leadership, the overall image does not seem to be 
terribly different 
 
¶9. (C) Comment continued. The UFC President looked tired, 
especially at the opening of the session, which some thought 
was stress.  As observers are pointing out, if elected in 
2010 he will be 74 years old, not necessarily an element in 
his favor.  Olympio understands the hurdles he faces in 
standing for the 2010 elections.  While Faure said he will 
make sure Olympio is allowed to stand in the elections (ref 
B), this cannot be a unilateral decision.  Unless 
constitutional reforms are made, Olympio's candidacy is 
probably illegal. Faure may not have the political capital to 
push through the needed changes due to opposition from the 
old guard of the RPT, and deeming unilaterally Olympio's 
candidacy legal goes against Faure's efforts to improve 
governance and adherence to the rule of law. 
 
¶10. (C) Comment continued. Nigeria. The Nigerian visit that 
occurred during our meeting was quite odd.  Ambassador Baba 
Zanna clearly had an agenda. While inquiring about the reform 
process, he asked Olympio if there is a specific reason why 
Compaore should continue to facilitate.  The Nigerian asked 
Olympio what he thought of former President Obasanjo, to 
which the Togolese gave an ambiguous reply.  Since Obasanjo 
had just come to see Faure (ref C), we had to wonder whether 
the Nigerians might have a Plan B afoot and excused ourselves 
-- to the Nigerian's obvious relief -- so the two could 
continue talking. 
 
 
TWINING