LOME, Togo — Togo’s election commission on Saturday declared the son of the country’s late dictator winner of the presidential race, extending the family’s rule into a fifth decade in a deep blow to Togo’s opposition, which vowed to take to the streets in protest.
Provisional results indicate Faure Gnassingbe won 1.2 million votes, representing 60.9 percent of the roughly 2 million votes cast in the tiny country, said Issifou Tabiou, the head of the election body. Opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre, who had earlier accused the ruling party of rigging the election, received 33.9 percent.
Pro-Gnassingbe soldiers intimidated voters at polling stations and several times opened fire before stealing ballot boxes, according to a report by Amnesty International.
