The main opposition candidate in Togo's presidential election said today he believes he won by a broad margin -- a claim that sets the stage for protests if the official results disagree, according to Reuters. The vote held on Thursday in the small West African nation has been seen as a test for democracy. "On the basis of the counts from certain prefectures, the UFC candidate has won an average of 75 to 80 percent of the votes," said Jean-Pierre Fabre, the top rival to incumbent President Faure Gnassingbe. "We conclude that we have won the presidential election of March 4, 2010," he said. Voting in the small West African nation took place under heavy security, but official results were not expected until the weekend. Fabre has said his party reserves the right to call protests if the results of the election are dubious. More than 3,000 local and nearly 500 European and West African observers were dispatched to monitor the election across Togo, a sliver of land between Ghana and Benin where only half of the nation's 6.6 million people were registered to vote. Parliamentary elections held in 2007 went off peacefully, leading to the restoration of foreign aid.
