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| - Here are key dates in Togo since its independence 60 years ago. The small West African country goes to the polls on Saturday with President Faure Gnassingbe running for a fourth term. Togo proclaims independence from France in April 1960. The prime minister, Sylvanus Olympio, is elected president the following year. Olympio is killed in January 1963 in a coup led by soldier Gnassingbe Eyadema. In May ex-prime minister Nicolas Grunitzky is elected president. In January 1967 Eyadema -- now a colonel -- overthrows Grunitzky and seizes power. In April he begins a 38-year stint as president, also taking the post of defence minister. He is internationally criticised for repression and promoting a personality cult. Social and political unrest erupts in October 1990 after the army disperses a pro-opposition rally. Several hundred people die. Pressure for democracy leads to a national conference in August 1991 at which Eyadema's regime is accused of torture and killings. A political transition begins. However Eyadema soon reclaims presidential authority with military backing. In August 1993 he returns to power in elections boycotted by the opposition. He is re-elected in disputed June 1998 polls and claims to win elections five years later, after the constitution is modified to end limits on presidential terms. Eyadema dies in February 2005, aged 69, while en route to France for emergency treatment. The military immediately hands power to one of his sons, Faure Gnassingbe, 38 years old and a government minister. The move is internationally condemned and Gnassingbe steps down. But he wins April presidential elections which are tainted by violence in which 400-500 die, according to the United Nations. He is re-elected in 2010, as the opposition protests. In November-December 2014, thousands demonstrate in the capital to demand a limit on presidential terms. Gnassingbe rules out any change and is re-elected in April 2015, with the opposition again objecting. Over 2017 and 2018 thousands of people attend a series of protests against Gnassingbe's grip on power. The demonstrations are severely repressed and around 15 protesters are killed. In May 2019 the constitution is amended to allow only two presidential terms. Gnassingbe has permission to stand in the next two presidential elections, set for 2020 and 2025. The changes also granted him lifelong immunity against prosecution "for acts committed during presidential mandates". In June 2019 Togo holds its first local elections in 32 years, won by the ruling party. In August, parliament tightens laws on demonstrations for "security reasons" and "terrorist threats". ang-jmy/br/eak/ri
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