Nicolas Lawson

Jean Nicolas Messan Lawson (born 11 March 1953 ) is a Togolese politician and businessman.

Biography Lawson was born in Aného, Lacs Prefecture.

As Togo transitioned from one-party rule to a multiparty system, Lawson took part in the Sovereign National Conference of July and August 1991 as a member of the Association for Social Faith and Freedom, and he was a member of the High Council of the Republic, which acted as the transitional parliament following the National Conference. He was also Special Advisor on Political Affairs to Prime Minister Joseph Kokou Koffigoh during the transitional period. was the first person to declare his candidacy for the June 2003 presidential election. Lawson subsequently formed the Party for Renewal and Redemption (PRR).

Due to the death of President Gnassingbé Eyadéma on 5 February 2005, a presidential election was held on 24 April 2005. Lawson ran as the PRR candidate, but withdrew on 23 April after the interior minister called for a postponement of the poll. According to official results, he won 1% of the vote.

On August 23, Lawson called on the people to vote in the October 2007 parliamentary election, describing the election as a "decisive step forward" and saying that the country "must return to democratic principles, to survive and to develop". He was critical of independent candidates, who he said did not have political programs and would only increase confusion in a country that already had about 80 parties. Lawson was the first candidate on the PRR's candidate list in Lomé in the 2007 election,