Written question asked by Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 9 March 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 11 March 2020. It was answered by James Duddridge (Conservative) on Tuesday, 17 March 2020 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Togo: Election Observers

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Togo Government on the benefits of independent domestic election observation.

Answer: We welcomed the largely peaceful conduct of Togo's presidential election on 22 February, and the deployment of election observers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union. The UK participated in an unofficial election monitoring mission with the UN in Lomé. We were however deeply concerned that Togo's Electoral Commission revoked the election observer license of the National Consultation of Civil Society of Togo on 18 February, preventing 600 independent observers from participating.

Secondary information