Democratic Convention of African Peoples

The Democratic Convention of African Peoples (French: Convention démocratique des peuples africains, CDPA) is a political party in Togo. It is a consultative member of Socialist International.[1]

Democratic Convention of African Peoples
PresidentLéopold Gnininvi
Founded1980s
HeadquartersLomé
IdeologySocial democracy
Democratic socialism
International affiliationSocialist International (Consultative)
Politics of Togo
Constitution
Government
Parliament
Administrative divisions
Elections
Foreign relations
map Africa portal

History

The party was based in Ivory Coast until 1989 when it was forced to leave by President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. In the same year some of its members were arrested for handing out anti-government literature; when they were put on trial in 1990, large demonstrations in Lomé led to several deaths.[2]

The CDPA boycotted the August 1993 presidential elections and the February 1994 parliamentary elections.[3] Its Secretary-General, Léopold Gnininvi, was a candidate in the June 1998 presidential elections, but received less than 1% of the vote and taking fifth place.[4] The CDPA did not take part in the 2002 parliamentary elections, as it was part of the Coalition of Democratic Forces, which called for a boycott.[5] Gnininvi initially registered as the CDPA's candidate in the June 2003 presidential elections, but announced his withdrawal from the elections in late May, choosing to back the strongest opposition candidate, Emmanuel Bob-Akitani of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC), instead.[6] The CPDA again supported Bob-Akitani in the 2005 presidential elections, in which he received 38.1% of the vote.

The party participated in the October 2007 parliamentary elections,[7] but received just 1.7% of the vote and failed to win a seat.[8] Gnininvi accepted the post of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in the government formed after the election, and as a result he was criticized by much of the opposition, including some in the CDPA. Gandi Borouza, an important CDPA member, left the party in January 2008, arguing that participation in the government was harmful to the party's interests.[9]

Prior to the 2013 parliamentary elections it joined the Rainbow Alliance,[10] which received 11% of the vote, winning six of the 91 seats in the National Assembly.

References
  1. List of Socialist International member parties in Africa Archived 2007-10-28 at the Wayback Machine Socialist International
  2. Richard Trillo (2008) The Rough Guide to West Africa Rough Guides UK
  3. "Togo: Opposition CDPA party to take part in 1998 presidential elections", Radio France Internationale, 25 August 2007
  4. Bogdan Szajkowski (2005) Political Parties of the World, 6th edition, p592
  5. Communiqué de presse de la Coalition des Forces Démocratiques à la suite de la mascarade électorale du 27 octobre 2002 Togo Confidentiel, 28 October 2002 (in French)
  6. TOGO: Gnininvi stands down as presidential candidate IRIN, 26 May 2003
  7. Comment sont décomptés les suffrages Republic of Togo, 14 October 2007 (in French)
  8. Definitive results of the legislative elections of 14 October 2007 Archived November 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Constitutional Court, 30 October 2007 (in French)
  9. La CDPA minée par un début de dissidence Jeune Afrique, 24 January 2008 (in French)
  10. Togo : Six partis de l'opposition en Coalition Arc-En-Ciel pour les législatives Archived 2015-11-21 at the Wayback Machine Afriquinfos, 4 August 2012
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