LOME(AP) – Togo's opposition leader claimed an early victory in the presidential race and accused the ruling party of trying to rig the elections, setting the stage for a violent showdown as election officials arrived in the capital Saturday with physical proof of votes that had been cast in the contentious election.

Togo has been ruled by the same family for the past 43 years and has never had a vote that was considered free or fair. An angry mob on Friday crowded outside the headquarters where opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre was speaking, chanting: “Change or death.”
The race is between six opposition candidates and President Faure Gnassingbe, the son of the country's former dictator.
The military seized control of the country and imposed the 43-year-old as president immediately after the death of his father on Feb. 5, 2005. Gnassingbe went on to run in 2005 elections that were widely viewed as fraudulent and where the military systematically stole ballot boxes from polling stations.