 The security forces voted on 1 March—three days before the general population—so that they would be available to maintain order on election day.Togo's main opposition party, the UFC, unanimously chose Olympio, its long-time leader, as its presidential candidate at the party's Second Ordinary Congress, held in Nyékonakpoé, Lomé on 18–19 July 2008.Some other early announced candidates were the minor opposition leader Dahuku Péré, who led the Democratic Alliance for the Fatherland, as well as Kofi Yamgnane, who held dual nationality and served in the government of France under François Mitterrand.