April 26, 2005, 1:49PM
LOME, Togo — The son of Togo's longtime dictator was elected to succeed him as leader of this impoverished West African nation, officials said today — an outcome that sparked street fights between security forces and opposition supporters who burned barricades in the capital.
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Faure Gnassingbe, 39, won 60 percent, or 1.3 million, of the votes cast in Sunday's violence-scarred election, said electoral commission chairwoman Kissem Tchangai Walla. Main opposition candidate Bob Akitani received 38 percent, or 841,000, she said.
"I'm very happy with these results. Democracy states that the candidate with the majority of the votes wins — and the population has voted for its president," said Komi Koassou, campaign director for Gnassingbe's party.
Gnassingbe's father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, ruled this country for 38 until dying in February of a heart attack. He was Africa's longest-serving leader.
The army then named Gnassingbe president in what many saw as a military coup. International pressure forced Gnassingbe to step down and promise elections amid opposition protests that descended into deadly violence. Parliamentary speaker Babas Bonfoh took over as interim president.
Togolese angered by Gnassingbe's win erected flaming barricades in the streets of Lome and stoned passing vehicles. Residents scurried behind closed doors as plumes of heavy black smoke billowed over the seaside city.
Police beat young male protesters with nightsticks. In the opposition stronghold neighborhood of Be, security forces fired tear gas grenades at stone-throwing protesters, witnesses said.
Washington had expressed "deep concern" about violence in the run-up to the election and urged the impoverished nation to embrace democracy. Democratic progress could bring increased international aid and economic development to a country where one-third of the people live in poverty.
After Eyadema's mismanagement and neglect, the average Togolese income is $270 a year, down from $600 in the 1980s. Unemployment affects nearly every household.
Opposition party officials, who accused the government of tampering with Sunday's ballots, called today for supporters to protest the election results.
"Faure can't win this election and everyone knows it," Jean-Pierre Fabre, secretary general of Akitani's political party, told Radio France Internationale.
"The opposition is calling all its members to react and to stop this from happening," he said, without specifying what actions supporters should take.
Akitani went into hiding as voters went to polls Sunday, saying he feared for his life, and his whereabouts were not known.
The election results must be certified by Togo's constitutional court in coming weeks but are considered the final tally, even though they do not include ballots cast at about 700 nationwide polling stations that were destroyed during election violence Sunday.
Hundreds of opposition supporters rioted in the streets Sunday, angry at reports the ruling party stole ballot boxes or stuffed them with votes for Gnassingbe. A foreign diplomat said three men were shot to death near Lome's airport, but it was unclear by whom.
On Monday, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo convened a meeting between Gnassingbe and another senior opposition figure, Gilchrist Olympio, hoping to forestall further violence. Obasanjo said afterward that no matter who prevailed at the ballot boxes, a government of national unity would share power.
Gnassingbe campaigned on that platform, promising to bring together the country's political parties, long divided by distrust and suspicion under Eyadema.
Despite his efforts to escape his father's negative legacy, many fear Gnassingbe is only a pawn of Eyadema's political machine, which left the country of 5 million in economic shambles.