多哥清点选票,预计总统连任

多哥

Officials in Togo are counting ballots from Saturday's presidential election, in a vote that is expected to see President Faure Gnassingbe remain in power.

The Independent National Electoral Commission says of the country's 3.5 million eligible voters, only 53 to 55 percent took part in the poll.

The election commission has six days, from the end of voting, to announce the results of the poll.

President Gnassingbe is seeking a third five-year term, which would keep his family in power for nearly 50 years. He assumed office in 2005 upon the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled the former French colony for 38 years.

Opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre, who also ran for president in the last election, is expected to come in second in the single-round presidential poll.

Rights groups have criticized Togo for using violence against protesters.

Hundreds of election observers descended on Togo to monitor the election.