By EBOW GODWIN
Associated Press Writer
LOME, Togo (AP) - Opposition parties rallied on Saturday to call for presidential elections to be delayed, but supporters of Togo's deceased military ruler insisted the vote must go ahead as planned.
Some militants attacked two plainclothes policemen on duty, causing them to be hospitalized with bruises and one with a fractured elbow, Security Minister Akila Esso Boko said.
``Ablode! Ablode!'' opposition supporters said, screaming their demand for ``freedom'' after 38 years under the dictatorial rule of Gnassingbe Eyadema, who died of a heart attack Feb. 5.
The demonstrations came hours before the midnight deadline for presidential candidates to register for the April 24 vote. Faure Gnassingbe, the son of Eyadema whom the military briefly installed as Togo's leader within hours of death, was first to file on Friday, according to the Electoral Commission.
He was followed by Nicolas Lawson, whose Party for Renewal and Redemption is small, but whose preacher-style speeches and frequent quoting from the Bible has won a strong following.
Lawson's candidature threatens to split the opposition vote and imperil the chances Emmanuel Bob Akitani, chosen by a six-party opposition coalition of more radical parties that had appealed for opponents to military rule to back one candidate.
Hundreds of opposition supporters marched through the capital Saturday and cheered Akitani as he demanded better representation on the nation's electoral bodies and urged them to be vigilant against repeats of previous, fraudulent elections.
``We can foresee another electoral holdup being planned by the Togo government,'' Akitani's coalition said in a statement calling on the Community of West African States to exert pressure on Togo's government to postpone the elections.
A rally of the youth wing of Gnassingbe's military-backed party also drew hundreds of supporters Saturday, who yelled ``No'' to any election postponement.
``This will lead to an uncertain tomorrow,'' the youth wing's spokesman, Robert Assedi, said.
The security minister, who is also in charge of territorial administration, has denied opposition charges that the government refused it representation on electoral bodies and said the three main opposition parties have not submitted names of representatives to serve on them despite several reminders.
He also said the policemen who were attacked did not fight back. ``Togolese security agents have strict orders not to react even in the face of extreme provocation during protest marches,'' Boko told The Associated Press. ``But this should not be taken as a sign of weakness.''
Togolese security forces killed four protesters in February demonstrations against the military's installation of Gnassingbe.
Togo

The opposition parties in Togo held a demonstration on Saturday to demand a delay in the upcoming elections. The elections to replace the deceased ruler, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, are scheduled to be held on April 24, 2005.

The elections were scheduled after an outpouring of international criticism about the army's installment of the late president's son as the country's new leader. The son, Faure Gnassingbé, initially circumvented the constitutional process for new elections 60 days after the death of a current president, but announced elections after African and European leaders strongly criticized the move.

The opposition is demanding a delay for the election, because they fear they will not be able to carry out a sufficient campaign. The candidates from the two prominent opposition parties, Emmanuel Bob Akitani and Nicolas Lawson, both registered with the election officials despite the view that elections should be delayed. In a demonstration in the nation's capital, Akitani's supporters cheered as the candidate called for better representation on elected bodies — something the government denies is a problem.

The supporters of the current government also held a rally in the city, shouting "No" to the prospect of delaying elections.