Following the 2007 election, Mally was appointed as Prime Minister by President Faure Gnassingbé on December 3, 2007.[1][2][4] At the time of his appointment he was considered a relative unknown in Togolese politics,[2][5] and his appointment was contrary to expectations that an opposition figure would be named Prime Minister.[5]Gilchrist Olympio of the opposition Union of the Forces of Change (UFC) described Mally as "some sort of civil servant, unknown to the public, unknown to the political class", and predicted that Mally's government would be short-lived due to the talks between Gnassingbé and the opposition.[7]
Mally took office in a ceremony on December 6,[8] and his government was named on December 13. It includes 21 ministers (aside from Mally himself) and is primarily composed of members of the RPT; the two main opposition parties, the Union of the Forces of Change (UFC) and the Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), were not included in the government.[9] Mally addressed the National Assembly with his policy program on December 17, in which he said that the four main priorities of his government would be "consolidation of the Togolese Nation; formation of solid bases of growth and development; improvement of the conditions of access to the essential services; and the reaffirmation of Togo's place in the community of nations." This was approved by the National Assembly with 42 votes in favor, 41 from the RPT and one from the CAR; three deputies from the CAR voted against it and the UFC did not participate in the vote.[10]