Union of Forces for Change
The Union des Forces du changement is the largest opposition party, the West African state of Togo. President of the UFC is Gilchrist Olympio, its secretary general, Jean- Pierre Fabré. Olympio is the son of Sylvanus Olympio, the first president of Togo, which in 1963 was killed in a coup.
The UFC was founded by Olympio on 1 February 1992 as a federation of parties. Olympio was excluded for technical reasons of the Togolese Parliament election in 1994. The UFC subsequently boycotted the elections. Olympio then took part in the presidential elections of 1998 and was, according to official figures, 34% of the votes of the runner-up after long- time President Gnassingbe Eyadema, but the UFC suspected fraud and boycotted the parliamentary elections of March 1999, also during the next parliamentary elections in 2002 took over the UFC on a boycott part of the opposition.
Emmanuel Bob - Akitani, the first vice president of the UFC was the main opposition candidate in the presidential elections of 2003 and 2005. It was put forward as a substitute for Olympio, who was barred from running because he had lived in the meantime a few years abroad. Officially got Bob Akitani 38.1 % of the vote in 2005 and lost so against Faure Gnassingbé, the son of the late Eyadema. The opposition spoke of election fraud.
The UFC decided not to participate in the Government of National Unity under Primieminister Yawovi Agboyibo in September 2006, although many were unhappy in the party with this decision Olympius. Amah Gnassingbé about, the second vice president of the UFC, accepted a post as Minister of State in the government and was therefore excluded from the party.
For the first time since the early 90s, multi-party elections were held in October 2007 took the UFC to the Togolese parliamentary elections in part. The party won 27 of 81 seats, down behind the Rassemblement du peuple togolais that won the majority. The UFC complained of irregularities in the election. After the Constitutional Court had confirmed the result, described UFC Secretary General Jean -Pierre Fabré, the result as "neither credible nor acceptable" and said that the result does not represent the will of the Togolese people.