Togo delays Senate elections to February 15

Paris: Togo s first senatorial elections have been pushed back by two weeks to February 15 to allow political actors to better organise themselves ,...

Paris: Togo's first senatorial elections have been pushed back by two weeks to February 15 "to allow political actors to better organise themselves", according to a presidential decree published Friday evening.

Campaigning will officially start January 30.

The vote is one of the last steps towards the implementation of a new constitution, which has been strongly criticised by the opposition and civil society. Several political parties had asked for the delay to allow them more time to register candidates.

But some major opposition parties, such as the National Alliance for Change (ANC), have said they will boycott the election, which they consider to be part of a "constitutional coup d'etat".

Officially created by a constitutional revision in 2002, the Senate has never been set up.