Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PARIS5182
2006-08-01 09:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Paris
Cable title:  

TOGO: MEETING WITH GILCHRIST OLYMPIO: UPBEAT BUT

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM TO FR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6716
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHFR #5182/01 2130932
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 010932Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9975
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0034
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 1708
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2460
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0842
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PARIS 005182 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/01/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM TO FR
SUBJECT: TOGO: MEETING WITH GILCHRIST OLYMPIO: UPBEAT BUT
CAUTIOUS

REF: A. LOME 737

B. PARIS 1919

C. LOME 741

PARIS 00005182 001.2 OF 004


Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reason
1.5 (b/d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PARIS 005182

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/01/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM TO FR
SUBJECT: TOGO: MEETING WITH GILCHRIST OLYMPIO: UPBEAT BUT
CAUTIOUS

REF: A. LOME 737

B. PARIS 1919

C. LOME 741

PARIS 00005182 001.2 OF 004


Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reason
1.5 (b/d).


1. (U) This is an action message: See para 12.


2. (C) SUMMARY: Togolese opposition leader and UFC chief
Gilchrist Olympio told us on July 27 that he agreed to the
naming of Burkina Faso President Campaore as facilitator for
political dialogue between the GOT and opposition political
groups. However, much remained to be determined as to the
modalities of the talks, Campaore's role, and the Faure
regime's commitment to work with the opposition. He stressed
the need for establishing free and fair legislative
elections, and abiding by the 1992 constitution, stripped of
amendments Eyadema engineered during his final years, as a
basis for going forward. Olympio said the Faure government
wanted to hold legislative elections early in 2007, in order
to hold them before French presidential elections scheduled
for May 2007 and the resulting likely change in French
leadership, but Olympio doubted they could be held that soon.
Olympio encouraged engagement by the international community
in Togo's political dialogue and elections processes, noting
that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had recently
agreed to open an office in Lome. He welcomed any assistance
the U.S. could provide in making Togo the subject of UNSC
attention, for instance, through a UNSC Press Statement
supporting Campaore as mediator of a reinvigorated political
dialogue, and the opening of a UN office in Togo through
UNSYG Annan's good offices. Olympio discussed briefly
Catholic-Freemason tensions in France and Togo, which had the
effect of marginalizing engagement by Sant'Egidio. Olympio
said he would travel to the U.S. and Mexico during late in
August and would welcome a meeting with USG officials in New
York or Washington. ACTION REQUEST: Department guidance in
response to Olympio's offer of availability for New York or
Washington meetings. See para 12 for details. END ACTION

REQUEST AND SUMMARY.


3. (C) Gilchrist Olympio, head of the UFC party and leading
member of Togo's opposition, called on Embassy Africa Watcher
on July 27, accompanied by UFC Communications Counselor Isaac
Tchiakpe. Discussion of political developments in Togo
generally tracked with ref A; ref B reports our last meeting
with Olympio in March.

Campaore and Political Dialogue
--------------

4. (C) In an upbeat mood (see concluding Comment),Olympio
discussed the naming on July 25 of Burkina Faso President
Campaore as facilitator of Togo's political dialogue. He
said that "yesterday" (July 26) the parties reached final
agreement on this issue. With seven parties accepting
Campaore, the UFC "couldn't say 'no,'" Olympio said,
especially after the UFC's "sister party" (the CDPA) had
proposed Campaore. Now the task would be to define
Campaore's role. Olympio said that he wanted Campaore to
engage personally as a "mediator" actively taking part in
negotiations and not as a "facilitator" who would simply
bring the parties together. Olympio did not express complete
confidence in Campaore, whom he declined to describe as a
friend, but said that he was not opposed to him, despite his
"closeness to France." He believed Campaore was nonetheless
capable of acting impartially. Olympio believed that
Campaore was close to Chirac "and the other Gaullists,"
including PM de Villepin, and said that if Chirac told
Campaore to do something, Campaore would do so. Olympio
noted that the group was quick to settle on Campaore after
other candidates (e.g., Carl Bildt, Lakhdar Brahimi, Kenneth
Kaunda, Alpha Oumar Konare, and Jerry Rawlings) failed to
achieve consensus support. Olympio said that a plenary
meeting of the parties to the talks could take place as soon
as Campaore accepts and modalities for the talks are
determined.


5. (C) Olympio said that he had already made clear to
Campaore, and would do so again, that it was important that
Campaore be personally engaged and that he not operate by
proxy. Of course he could not be expected to abandon his job
as Burkina Faso's president, so it might be necessary to move
the talks to Ouagadougou.

Elections
--------------

6. (C) Olympio said that establishing a free, fair, and

PARIS 00005182 002.2 OF 004


transparent electoral process, first concentrating on
legislative elections, was of prime concern. The 1998 and
1999 election registers, although flawed, could serve as the
basis of identifying voters. Technically, Olympio could be a
candidate for a legislative seat. However, he noted that
just four days before, the GOT indicated that no one over the
age of 65 could run for President, a gesture directed at him
personally, he believed. In contrast, he noted that an
earlier law requiring a presidential candidate to be at least
45 years old was expeditiously scrapped towards the end of
Eyadema's life to accommodate Faure ("the boy was 39 then,"
Olympio observed). This was in line with the GOT's ability
and practice "to do whatever it wants." Olympio opposed the
GOT's aim to hold a single round of elections, saying that
there had to be two rounds, as was the case in many other
countries. Louis Michel, EU Commissioner for Development and
Humanitarian Aid, told Olympio he favored avoiding the
registers altogether by issuing voter cards to anyone who
could prove an age of 18 or more. Olympio said that a formal
census would take too long and that a system along Michel's
lines could cost 12-14 million USD. Not fully endorsing
Michel's idea, Olympio commented that much of Michel's
African experience was in the DRC and that he tended to view
other African countries through that prism, which was not
always appropriate. Olympio believed that the EU could
provide funding for such a voter registration process.


7. (C) Another dilemma was Togo's constitution and how to
establish an electoral process, defined by law, without
having to change the constitution. Olympio believed the 1992
constitution, approved by 98 percent of Togolese, including
Eyadema's supporters, could still serve as a useful
instrument, if stripped of the many amendments that Eyadema
made to it, especially in his last years. However, if a
democratically-oriented legislature could be elected, then it
could go about changing the electoral laws and, if necessary,
the constitution. Olympio complained that changes were also
necessary concerning the Prime Ministry; under the current
system, Togo's President could hire and fire ministers at
will, despite the Prime Minister and the political make-up of
the legislature.


8. (C) Olympio said he told Faure during their July 2005
meeting in Rome that they both knew Faure would obtain only
10 percent of the vote in a free election, and that Faure
should agree that his government was transitional, in
anticipation of eventual free and fair legislative elections.
Olympio described to us another scenario involving Faure's
agreement to shorten his mandate to three years in order to
hold presidential elections sooner. Olympio believed that
the GOT wanted to hold legislative elections in February 2007
and that Faure indicated such a date because he wanted to be
sure the elections took place before Chirac's likely
departure from power after the May 2007 French elections. On
the subject of a change in France's Africa policy
post-Chirac, Olympio said that one of Interior Minister (and
presidential hopeful) Sarkozy's foreign policy advisors
assured him that France's policies would change under a new
president, whether of the left or right. Africa's
French-centric old order, now represented by Chad's Deby,
Gabon's Bongo, and Cameroon's Biya, would be on its way out.


9. (C) Olympio elaborated on how the legislative elections
should take place. There should be a second round;
"discriminatory" laws barring certain candidates should be
eliminated; the Togolese army should not take to the streets;
foreign observers, including military observers to watch the
army, should be deployed; and 1,500 gendarmes (which could
include Togolese) could also be deployed, per Louis Michel's
suggestion. The foreign and military observers should be
available before, during, and after the elections.


10. (C) The GOT's February 2007 target date for legislative
elections was not feasible, Olympio said, given the many
issues that first had to be settled, including meeting EU
requirements for credible elections as set forth in the EU's
22 conditions for restarting Togo-EU relations.

UNHCHR and UNSC
--------------

11. (C) Olympio was happy to report that the Office of the
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had agreed only a week
previously to open an office in Lome, which could take place
in September (ref C). He met with High Commissioner Louise
Arbour in February 2006 and asked that such an office be
established. Regarding the UN and a role for the UNSC,
Olympio said he spoke on July 26 with UNSYG Annan, who
reminded him that a country, preferably an SC member, would

PARIS 00005182 003.2 OF 004


have to propose action to the Council. Olympio thought that
the UNSC could speak out against Togo's human rights record
and history of extra-judicial killings. We noted that at
this stage, a UNSC Press Statement might be more timely,
supporting the naming of Campaore as mediator and the
prospects for meaningful dialogue. Olympio agreed that this
would be useful. Olympio said that he suggested to UNSYG
Annan that the UN, under Annan's good offices, open an office
in Togo. The U.S. could play a useful role in supporting the
opening of such an office, Olympio said.

Available to Talk to USG
--------------

12. (C) Olympio said he planned on traveling to Mexico for
a wedding, transiting through New York, late in August. He
said that he would be more than willing to meet with USG
officials on either leg of his trip if there were interest on
the U.S. side, and would be flexible on timing, to the extent
that the date of the wedding permitted. He would travel to
Washington if necessary, although a meeting in New York would
be more convenient. We told him that we would convey this
point to Washington and follow-up with him as appropriate.
ACTION REQUEST: Post requests Department guidance on
Olympio's offer to meet with USG officials in either New York
or Washington during his upcoming trip. Olympio on August 1
provided the following travel schedule: Aug 21 (arrive New
York, depart for Mexico); Aug 26 (wedding in Mexico); Aug 28
(return to New York); Aug 29 (depart New York for Paris).
END ACTION REQUEST.

Relations with the GOF and with the Faure Regime
-------------- ---

13. (C) Olympio said that the GOF did not seem interested
in maintaining a productive dialogue with him, going so far
as to tell him that talking with Presidential Africa Advisor
Bonnecorse would be a "waste of time." He believed, however,
that the French might be more willing to meet with him now
that circumstances had changed and the UFC was seen as
engaging the GOT in dialogue. Olympio described recent
positive meetings with members of the Faure regime, one of
which took place on July 6 and lasted seven hours at
Olympio's apartment. Faure's Advisor Pascal Bodjona was
among the participants. Olympio said he (Olympio) expressed
"no hard feelings" to the GOT representatives and was able to
speak his mind freely. He laid out his priorities, stressing
the need to work for Togo's future. A second meeting took
place later in Accra, when seven members of Faure's inner
circle, again including Bodjona, met with Olympio at their
request. He said that these members of Faure's regime seemed
to agree with his main points on the way forward. He
acknowledged that they could of course have been acting as
though they agreed with him.

Catholics and Freemasons
--------------

14. (C) When asked about Sant'Egidio's role concerning
Togo, Olympio said he spoke regularly with Sant'Egidio
representative Mario Giro. However, Olympio and Tchiakpe
noted that there was tension in France and Togo between
Catholics and Freemasons, which was impeding Sant'Egidio's
efforts at engagement. Freemasonry was widespread and
popular in Togo, they commented; Faure and other leading
Togolese were active Freemasons, as were Campaore and C.A.R.
President Bozize, Olympio said. There were lodges throughout
Togo, Olympio asserted. Freemasons tended to view a Catholic
association such as Sant'Egidio with skepticism. Olympio
said that Louis Michel was a Freemason, along with others in
France involved with Togo, which contributed to Sant'Egidio's
marginalization. Olympio said that he was approached by the
Freemasons in France in 2004 and asked to give a speech at a
local lodge, but he told them he could do so only after
returning from a December holiday to India to visit his
wife's family. The lodge said he could speak on any subject
and did not ask for an advance text. Noting that this was
shortly before Eyadema's death, Olympio said that the lodge
then phoned him while he was in India and asked that he
postpone his speech. He did so, noting that he had since
heard nothing further about making the speech. He did not
rule out GOF pressure on the Freemasons to have the speech
canceled.

COMMENT
--------------

15. (C) Olympio was in a markedly more relaxed and upbeat
mood than he was when we last met with him in March (ref B).
The naming of Campaore, the prospect of political dialogue,
and the respect he has been given by Faure collaborators seem
to have energized him, and he made his points in a more

PARIS 00005182 004.2 OF 004


focused and organized manner than he had previously.
Remarkably, he accepted the notion of the Faure government's
staying in place as a transition to a more "proper"
democracy. At the same time, he expressed no illusions about
the obstacles ahead and the likelihood that the Faure regime
could well create new ones as the process creeps forward.
END COMMENT.



Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm

STAPLETON