多哥总统在议会选举中受挫

Knocking Gnassingbé
敲打

Togo’s president suffers an electoral setback
多哥总统在议会选举中受挫

Despite an opposition boycott, his party still lost seats
尽管无视反对派的抵制，福雷·纳辛贝领导的政党仍丢失部分议会席位

IT IS NO mean feat for a ruling party to lose seats in an election boycotted by 14 opposition parties. Yet such is the depth of unhappiness with Faure Gnassingbé, the president of Togo, that his party’s majority shrank in parliamentary elections on December 20th, even though almost no one was standing against it.
在一场由14个反对党联合抵制的选举中，对一个失去一些席位的执政党而言，这可是一个了不起的成就。12月20日，多哥总统福雷·纳辛贝（Faure Gnassingb）领导的政党在议会选举中的得票有所减少，尽管几乎无人对此苛责，但他却是深感不快。

The opposition coalition shunned the vote, accusing the government of rigging the voters’ register. It also complained that the police and army shot at protesters. On a video circulated on social media in December, a uniformed man in a pickup truck drove up to demonstrators and pointed a rifle at them. The gunman’s face was not visible, and no shots were seen fired on the video. But activists claimed that two people (one a 12-year-old) were shot dead by soldiers that day.
反对党联盟有意回避了投票结果，指责多哥政府操纵选民投票，并抱怨警方和军队向抗议者开枪。12月， 在社交媒体上流传的一段视频中，一名身穿制服的男子开着一辆皮卡向示威者冲去，并用步枪指着他们。这名枪手的脸无法看清，视频也未显示他开了枪。但有活动人士声称，当天游行中有两人（其中一名12岁）被士兵开枪打死。

Provisional results showed the ruling Union pour la République losing three of its 62 seats. The loss may be crucial. Mr Gnassingbé (pictured), who has run the country since 2005 following the death of his father (who had been in charge for 38 years) wants to be allowed to run again in 2020. Under pressure to stand down, he proposed a constitutional amendment that would limit presidents to only two terms, but insisted that the count should only start at the next election. That could allow him to remain in power until 2030.
初步结果显示，多哥执政党保卫共和联盟在议会选举原持有62个席位，现减少3个席位。这一席位的减少显得意义重大。2005年其父（曾执政38年）逝世后，福雷·纳辛贝开始上台，他希望能在2020年重新执政。在面临下台的压力下，福雷·纳辛贝提出修正宪法，将总统任期限制为两届，并坚持新修正的宪法自下次大选开始实施。如此以来，他可以继续执政至2030年。

A referendum on his constitutional amendment was meant to be held on December 16th. But it was called off after a wave of opposition protests by activists demanding that the two-term limit be applied retroactively, which would bar Mr Gnassingbé from running again.
修宪公投原定于12月16日举行，但由于活动人士要求总统两届任期限制立即生效（这将限制福雷·纳辛贝竞选连任），并掀起了一轮反对浪潮，全民公投最终被迫取消。

Without a referendum Mr Gnassingbé may try to push his constitutional amendments through parliament. But to do so he would need to muster the support of allied parties to get a four-fifths majority (or 73 of 91 votes). If the changes are rammed through parliament, or if another referendum is called, the result would probably be more protests. Politically speaking, no one expects to hear Faure’s requiem soon.
因全民公投无法进行，福雷·纳辛贝可能会通过议会来推动宪法修正案。但这样做是需要获得联盟党派的支持，需要4/5的席位（即在91席位中获得73个席位）。如果议会通过这一修正案，或上演一场公投，结果可能会引发更多的抗议。从政治角度来说，没有人再想倾听福雷的《安魂曲》。

https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/01/05/togos-president-suffers-an-electoral-setback

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