Military

DATE= 5/8/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=TOGO ELECTIONS (L-O) (CQ)

NUMBER=2-302999

BYLINE= NICO COLOMBANT

DATELINE= ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

/// EDS: FIXING NAME OF GROUP IN GRAF AFTER FRENCH ACT, SHOULD BE "Union for the Forces of Change" ///

INTRO: Authorities in Togo have begun a security crackdown, after the main opposition leader said he wants a campaign of civil disobedience to protest his being barred from running in next month's presidential election. V-O-A's Nico Colombant has this report from our West Africa bureau in Abidjan.

TEXT: Speaking from Paris, Togo opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio said his party will call for civil disobedience to force President Gnassingbe Eyadema from power.

Earlier this week, the Togo election commission disqualified Mr. Olympio from participating in the June 1st election because he does not fulfill residency requirements. He lives in exile in Europe.

Togo's Interior Minister Akila-Esso Francois Boko says the government will not tolerate violence, and the opposition party must respect the rules.

Wednesday, five militants wearing the red and yellow colors of Mr. Olympio's party were arrested after allegedly setting fire to a gas station in a poor neighborhood of the capital, Lome.

The vice-president of Mr. Olympio's political party, Patrick Lawson, says he was detained and questioned for five hours Wednesday.

/// LAWSON ACT IN FRENCH FADED UNDER ///

Mr. Lawson says his party, the Union for the Forces of Change, is non-violent and disassociates itself from any act of violence. But he warns, there could be a social explosion, because, he says, the young people of Togo are desperate for change.

Interior Minister Boko warns there will be a further crackdown if violent protests begin.

/// BOKO ACT IN FRENCH FADED UNDER ///

Mr. Boko says his ministry will do everything in its power to ensure the political campaign and the election are conducted peacefully.

One of the five opposition leaders who have been allowed to run, Leopold Gnininvi, says the mood is very tense in Lome.

/// GNININVI ACT IN FRENCH FADED UNDER ///

Mr. Gnininvi says the authorities might incite unrest themselves to justify a crackdown on opposition leaders.

Mr. Gnininvi says he would like the opposition to consolidate behind one or two candidates so it can have a chance to defeat President Eyadema, who has been in power since 1967.

A constitutional amendment passed in December allowed Mr. Eyadema to seek a third elected mandate. The campaign officially begins May 15th. (SIGNED)

NEB/NC/AWP/RAE/KBK