News / Africa
Military seizes power in Burkina Faso
31 Oct 2014 at 07:56hrs | Views
Burkina Faso descended into political chaos on Thursday as the military seized power, dissolving the government and parliament after a day of violent protests in the capital.
The landlocked west African country is an important ally of the US and France, the former colonial power, in the war against Islamist extremists in the Sahel, the semi-desert region south of the Sahara, analysts and diplomats say.
The protests erupted after President Blaise Compaoré proposed a vote at the national assembly in Ouagadougou to allow him to run for a fifth five-year term in elections set for 2015.
The vote was cancelled after demonstrators stormed parliament, set fire to the main chamber, and ransacked the national television station.
As night fell, Mr Compaoré declared a state of emergency and asked the opposition to call off protests. But barely an hour later the military staged what appeared a coup d'état, announcing the dissolution of the government and parliament.
General Honoré Traoré, chief of the army staff, said in a press conference surrounded by other senior military officials in fatigues, that a "transitional body" would be set up before a return to the constitutional order in a year.
He did not say whether Mr Compaoré would be part of the transitional body. Mr Compaoré said later in a statement broadcast on BF1 television: "I am available to open talks on a transitional period at the end of which I will hand over power."
He added that he was lifting the "state of siege" announced earlier on Thursday and withdrawing a proposed law to allow him to seek re-election. France, which has a military base in Burkina Faso, said it deplored the violence, and called for "restraint" and "a return to calm". The US also expressed concern.
"We call on all parties, including the security forces, to end the violence and return to a peaceful process [built on] . . . hard-won democratic gains," the White House said.
The crisis in Burkina Faso could complicate France's plans to deploy thousands of soldiers in the Sahel to fight jihadis in countries such as neighbouring Mali, to the northwest, where Paris launched military operations two years ago.
Burkina Faso has been seen traditionally as a country of relative stability in an otherwise volatile region.
The landlocked west African country is an important ally of the US and France, the former colonial power, in the war against Islamist extremists in the Sahel, the semi-desert region south of the Sahara, analysts and diplomats say.
The protests erupted after President Blaise Compaoré proposed a vote at the national assembly in Ouagadougou to allow him to run for a fifth five-year term in elections set for 2015.
The vote was cancelled after demonstrators stormed parliament, set fire to the main chamber, and ransacked the national television station.
As night fell, Mr Compaoré declared a state of emergency and asked the opposition to call off protests. But barely an hour later the military staged what appeared a coup d'état, announcing the dissolution of the government and parliament.
He did not say whether Mr Compaoré would be part of the transitional body. Mr Compaoré said later in a statement broadcast on BF1 television: "I am available to open talks on a transitional period at the end of which I will hand over power."
He added that he was lifting the "state of siege" announced earlier on Thursday and withdrawing a proposed law to allow him to seek re-election. France, which has a military base in Burkina Faso, said it deplored the violence, and called for "restraint" and "a return to calm". The US also expressed concern.
"We call on all parties, including the security forces, to end the violence and return to a peaceful process [built on] . . . hard-won democratic gains," the White House said.
The crisis in Burkina Faso could complicate France's plans to deploy thousands of soldiers in the Sahel to fight jihadis in countries such as neighbouring Mali, to the northwest, where Paris launched military operations two years ago.
Burkina Faso has been seen traditionally as a country of relative stability in an otherwise volatile region.
Source - FT
