In the 2013 legislative election, Fabre's ANC emerged as the main opposition party when its coalition (Sauvons le Togo) won 19 seats in the National Assembly.

[1] In late December 2002, when the National Assembly voted to remove presidential term limits and thereby allow President Gnassingbé Eyadéma to run for re-election, Fabre denounced the move and urged "the Togolese people to mobilize immediately to oppose this coup de force of President Eyadéma".

The UFC won 27 out of 81 seats in the election, confirming its status as the largest opposition party in Togo, although the RPT retained its parliamentary majority.

Olympio was in the United States at the time,[11][12] suffering from backache,[11] and was unable to travel to Togo to undergo the necessary medical review for his candidacy.

[11][12] Reacting to the Constitutional Court's decision to validate his candidacy in early February, Fabre said that it was "unquestionably a message of hope for the Togolese people who aspire to a profound change".

Seeking to give the impression of solidarity amidst perceptions of internal disagreement, UFC First Vice-President Patrick Lawson said that the party was totally united behind Fabre's candidacy.

[13] On 17 February, four minor opposition groups—ADDI, the Alliance, the Socialist Renewal Party (PSR), and SURSAUT—joined the UFC in backing Fabre's candidacy.

In reference to the other parties, he said that "it is up to them to join us", and he expressed some exasperation at their reluctance to rally behind him: "the ego is so strong in Togo that everyone thinks he can be President".

That method was unacceptable to the UFC, which said that results not transmitted through VSAT could not be trusted; it claimed that the machines had not failed but were simply switched off by the government.

[20] Significantly, the turnout varied greatly by region: it was 70–80% in the north—the RPT's stronghold—but far lower in the traditionally pro-UFC south (including Lomé).

[21] Fabre alleged that the RPT had told his supporters that their fingerprints on the ballots could be traced and that they could therefore be hunted down and punished for their votes.

Declaring that he was "ready to die", Fabre led a group of UFC supporters in a protest on 7 March: "We're going to make them exhaust their stock of tear gas.

[25] Fabre ran as the opposition coalition (CAP) candidate in the presidential election held on 25 April 2015 and lost again to the incumbent President Faure Gnassingbe, according to official results.