I’m not sure what day the election results are supposed to be announced, as a date hasn’t been written in anything that I’ve read. I’m going to have to assume that it will be announced whenever they are done counting… and recounting. The problem here is that everybody knows that the longer it takes the government to count the vote, the more chances they have to commit fraud. So get a load of this.

Togo’s opposition is awaiting results from Sunday’s presidential election, amid street violence that has killed several people and injured dozens. Voters were asked to choose a successor to the late long-time president, Gnassingbe Eyadema, but the opposition alleges there was fraud in favor of his son, the ruling party candidate.

Dozens of angry youths erected burning barricades several kilometers outside Lome on the road to Benin, including Alex, who also wielded an axe.

“We are blocking the road, because we want our result,” he said. “All the time in Togo here, if they do election, they want to wait two days, three days, one week before they give the results. Now, we want the results today, not tomorrow or Wednesday, today, today, we want the results.”

Nearby, protesters waving clubs and chunks of cement gathered near the heavily guarded home of the local ruling party official. They accused him of trying to rig results.

The official, Richard Attiope, whose face was marked by bloody cuts, escaped for his life Sunday, when opposition supporters burned his car, alleging he was carrying fake ballots. He denied the charge, but said he was very scared.

“I think that today I can say that I am afraid about my life, because yesterday what happened is very, very serious,” he said. “I am afraid, but I am asking myself, what is really happening in this country? And, I am saying that, if the opposition want to rule this country, it is not with the violence, and for me using violence is the proof that they will not win.”

At the main opposition headquarters in Lome, activist Samuel is looking over his own poll numbers from opposition strongholds where his candidate, Emmanuel Akitani-Bob, seems to have finished way ahead of Faure Gnassingbe, the ruling party candidate and son of the late leader Gnassingbe Eyadema.

“I know that, if they got the real results, Bob will win, but maybe they will not allow it,” he said. “Gnassingbe people will not allow that Bob should win. Maybe that will be trouble.”

Police could be heard firing tear gas to disperse angry groups of opposition supporters moving around parts of the capital. In several areas, they also dug trenches and threatened to kill white foreigners, accusing the former colonial power, France, of backing authorities.

In contrast, in the north, which was the base of Mr. Eyadema’s 38-year reign until his death in February, there were no reports of violence.

The current head of the African Union, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, convened Mr. Gnassingbe and the head of Mr. Akitani-Bob’s party, Gilchrist Olympio, for urgent talks to help ease the post-election tension and violence.

That last line is very important. The African Union negotiated through pressure and sanctions for Gnassingbe Jr. to step down from his unconstitutional military coup. Nigeria has possibly a very positive role to play here, whereas South Africa did nothing for Zimbabwe. He called talks between both parties in order to reach settlement for a national unity government.

Togo’s political foes have agreed to form a government of national unity in an attempt to avert more violence following this weekend’s disputed presidential elections, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Monday after hosting emergency talks with the leaders of the two sides.

Togo’s ruling party candidate, Faure Gnassingbe, and the most powerful opposition leader who was barred from contesting the election, Gilchrist Olympio, were summoned to Abuja after Sunday’s poll ended violently with reports of at least three people killed in clashes between rival supporters.

“We have agreed that whoever wins the elections will forge ahead with a government of national unity, which will make everybody have a sense of participation and a stake in the polity,” Obasanjo said.

On Monday, the streets of the Togolese capital Lome were tense and largely deserted as people waited to see what would follow the 38-year rule of Gnassingbe Eyadema, whose death in February sparked the political crisis.

With both sides crying foul and alleging fraud, and neither willing to accept defeat, diplomats and residents had feared further trouble when the election results were announced — a prospect which sent jitters around an already-troubled West African region.

But with the intervention of Obasanjo before the election results were published, those fears appeared to have receded. Besides heading the largest and influential country in West Africa, Obasanjo is the current chairman of the African Union (AU).

“We’ve also agreed that there will be an examination of the Constitution to fashion out an amendment in order to really satisfy the ideal of democracy and fundamental human rights, popular participation and the rule of law,” the Nigerian leader said.

A committee including representatives from the rival political parties, the AU and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would be set up to monitor developments in Togo, he added.
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Speaking after the talks with Obasanjo and Olympio in Abuja, he acknowledged that Togo would face a difficult transition period.

“Inside Togo we have our difficult times and what I want is to work with everybody in good faith. We need to work together. We’ve agreed to work in an atmosphere of inclusiveness,” said the 39-year-old candidate of the country’s ruling party, the Rally of the Togolese People (RPT).

His rival, Olympio, adopted a similar conciliatory tone.

“We all accept that for so many years we were lost in the wilderness. And now we have an opening which we’re exploring to ensure lasting peace and true democracy. That is what we want,” he said.

Your guess is as good as mine if this is going to work. If it does, however, it can be considered a remarkable intervention in a time where total war was looking to break out. But sit tight, there are still a few days to go before the results are announced and we see if people remain calm.