US embassy cable - 05ABUJA809

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000809 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/20/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINS, TO, NI 
SUBJECT: ECOWAS' CHAMBAS ON ABUJA'S TOGO MEETING 
 
REF: ABUJA 651 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor James Maxstadt for Reasons 1.4 b AND 
 d. 
 
 1. (C)  Summary:  The Executive Secretary of ECOWAS believes 
a split is developing in the Togolese opposition, with 
Gnininvi and Agboyibo leading a faction that trusts Faure's 
intentions and is willing to work with him in a new 
government.  Chambas is not sure that Olympio and the UFC are 
committed to peace if their demands are not met, and said the 
Heads of State present at the May 19 meeting in Abuja 
included language on avoiding violence in their Communique in 
response to those concerns.  Akitani-Bob did not show up, 
apparently sick.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C)  PolMilOff met with ECOWAS Executive Secretary 
Chambas May 20 to discuss the May 19 meeting, held in Abuja, 
on the crisis in Togo.  Also present was ECOWAS Director of 
Political Affairs Abu, who also happens to be Togolese. 
Chambas characterized the May 19 meeting as a "mixed bag," 
with Faure being very amenable, and Chambas believes serious, 
about involving the opposition in the new government.  The 
opposition was less sure of its position.  The opposition has 
asked for a week to consider its position, at which point 
they will get back to Chambas.  No date for a future meeting 
of Faure, the opposition, and Heads of State has been set 
yet.  Heads of State attending were Obasanjo of Nigeria, 
Kufuor of Ghana, Kerekou of Benin, Compaore of Burkina Faso, 
Tandja of Niger and Bongo of Gabon. 
 
3.  (C)  Chambas said the most significant development was 
that Faure committed, to the six Heads of State present, to 
embark on a reform agenda and to accommodate the opposition 
in his government.  Chambas also said Faure understands the 
burden is on him to send signals to the opposition that they 
are welcome in the government.  The most impressive gesture 
Faure made, according to Chambas, was to offer a plan for 
bringing the Olympio family back to Togo, including the 
deceased patriarch of the family who is buried outside Togo 
due to a change in borders after decolonization.  Faure 
additionally offered to provide Olympio with a house in Togo 
and security assurances.  Faure was insistent, however, that 
Olympio show him more respect, pointing to the BBC interview 
broadcast on May 18 in which Olympio repeatedly referred to 
Faure as "that boy." 
 
4.  (C)  The biggest sticking point for the opposition was 
and is the tenure of the new unity government.  Most, 
especially Olympio, remained committed to a transitional 
unity government with a term of office of less than 5 years. 
Chambas said the six Heads of State above all demanded that 
the opposition agree that the unity government have the full 
5-year term, both for Constitutional reasons and because the 
magnitude of the issues the new government will be facing 
will require more than 1 year to solve. 
 
5.  (C)  Chambas thinks that a split is developing in the 
radical opposition, with a faction that believes working with 
Faure is both reasonable and the best path forward, and that 
they are moving away from Olympio's inflexible position. 
This new faction is led, Chambas believes, by Gnininvi and by 
Agboyibo.  Chambas was not assured that the UFC and Olympio 
are willing to be politically and peacefully involved in 
reform.  He said the portion of the ECOWAS Communique (which 
post faxed to the Operations Center) that dealt with violence 
was written to pressure Olympio and the UFC not to return to 
violence. 
 
6.  (C)  Chambas said the Heads of State, including Obasanjo, 
were getting impatient with the situation and may be less 
inclined to such summits on Togo.  Chambas said he is also 
very wary of creating a Cote d'Ivoire-like situation in Togo, 
in which the President and Prime Minister were unable to work 
together.  He thought out loud about finding solution where 
some Togolese technocrat (working for the IMF, World Bank, or 
UN, or a working in an executive-level corporate position in 
France, he suggested) would be acceptable to the opposition 
and come in to run the government as Prime Minister, but 
would be uninterested in politics or positioning himself for 
the Presidency.  Chambas said he has not come up with any 
names so far, but he will continue to work on this idea. 
 
7.  (C)  COMMENT:  It seems the May 19 meeting did not move 
the ball forward much further than we were in the reftel 
report on ECOWAS and Obasanjo just after the election. 
Gnassingbe is still seen by Chambas as being cooperative, 
probably by Obasanjo as well.  Much of the opposition is 
still not ready to sign on to a unity government, at least 
not for a full 5-year term, and do not trust Chambas to be 
neutral.  Obasanjo and the other heads of state are still the 
movers on this process, although Chambas' thought that they 
were wearying of Togo may well be true.  The goal for 
Chambas, and assumedly for Obasanjo in setting up his model 
for dealing with such crises (reftel), is still the creation 
of a unity government that includes all major players. 
Obasanjo and the other heads of state may, however, be 
willing to settle for making the unity government offer 
credible, and letting some of the opposition opt out if it 
can be shown to be their free choice. 
FUREY