Monrovia — The Togolese parliament adopted a new Constitution that changed the country's presidential system of government to a parliamentary one, France24 reported.

The legislation, pushed through by members of parliament from the ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR), was almost unanimously approved, amid criticism from the opposition, who are poorly represented in the National Assembly, after boycotting the last legislative election.

The new law grants the authority of electing a president "without debate" for a "single six-year term" exclusively to the parliament, and not the general Togolese population, according to the Sahara News Agency, quoting the text of the new Constitution.

The media report that the new law also creates the position of "President of the Council of Ministers", who will be tasked with running the day-to-day affairs of the government. This, the Chairman of the National Assembly's committee on constitutional laws, Tchitchao Tchalim, says "practically divests" the president of his powers in favor of the President of the Council of Ministers.

But critics argue that President Faure Gnassingbe, who has been in power since 2005 - following the death of his father Gnassingbe Eyadema who ruled the country for 38 years - is attempting to perpetuate himself in office by absolving Togolese of the right to elect their president.