Rally of the Togolese People:

The Rally of the Togolese People (French: Rassemblement du Peuple Togolais) is the ruling political party in Togo. The President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé, is also the National President of the RPT.

After 22 years of single-party rule by the RPT, a National Conference was held in July–August 1991, establishing a transitional government leading to multiparty elections. The RPT was briefly banned in November 1991 by the High Council of the Republic (the transitional parliament), leading to a political crisis in which soldiers loyal to Eyadéma, who demanded that the ban on the RPT be lifted, captured Prime Minister Joseph Kokou Koffigoh in December.^[3]

In the parliamentary election held on 27 October 2002, the party won 72 out of 81 seats in the National Assembly of Togo. Following the death of Eyadéma in February 2005, the RPT designated his son, Faure Gnassingbé, as the party's leader and its candidate in the presidential election of 24 April 2005, in which he won 60.2 % of the vote.

The RPT's 9th Congress was held in December 2006, and Solitoki Esso was elected as the party's Secretary-General for a three-year term.^[4] Previous Secretary-Generals include Koffi Sama, elected in late 2000, and Dama Dramani, elected in late 2002.

References

^ "Background Note: Togo", U.S. Department of State, August 2007.
^ "EDEM KODJO À VISAGE DÉCOUVERT", diastode.org (French).
^ "Togo Leader Adds to Cabinet to End Crisis", The New York Times, 2 January 1992.
^ "Togo: Ruling party ends congress, elects new secretary-general", Radio Togo, Lome (nl.newsbank.com), December 19, 2006.
^ "Le RPT remporte les premières élections pluralistes", Republicoftogo.com, October 30, 2007 (French).