Junta approves Burkina Faso transition
By Story Agencies, March 2, 2022Ouagadougou, Tuesday
A national conference in Burkina Faso has adopted a charter that will allow a military government that seized power in the West African state in January to lead a three-year transition.
According to media reports, the charter was approved and later signed by military government leader Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in the early hours of Tuesday after a day-long debate in the capital, Ouagadougou.
Damiba, who did not speak during the signing, led the January 24 coup that removed President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
The coup, the fourth in 18 months in the West Africa region, had raised concerns of a backslide in democracy in a region that was shedding its “coup belt” moniker.
A commission that drafted the transitional charter had proposed a two and a half-year transition, saying the military government had said it needed that time to stabilise the country and organise elections.
Burkina Faso, alongside neighbours Mali and Niger, is struggling to contain attacks by armed fighters linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), who have killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands in the West Africa Sahel area, rendering swaths of territories ungovernable and weakening governments.
Eddie Komboigo, leader of one of the main opposition parties and runner-up in the 2020 presidential election, welcomed the charter.
“It is true that not everyone is going to be happy with the transitional charter , But it was the consensus that we reached,” Komboigo said, urging the military government to negotiate with regional leaders and international partners so that all can agree on the length of the transition.
Burkina Faso was suspended from the Ecowas and the AU, which have both called for a speedy return to constitutional order.
The US has also halted nearly $160m in aid due to the coup. Burkina Faso’s military government said it has restored the constitution a week after taking power and has appointed the coup’s leader as head of state for a transitional period.
The move came shortly after the African Union (AU) suspended Burkina Faso for the takeover and diplomats from West Africa and the UN pressed demands for a return to civilian rule.
In a statement, the military government announced it had approved a “fundamental act” that “lifts the suspension of the constitution”, a move that had been declared after the January 24 coup.
The 37-article document guarantees independence of the judiciary and presumption of innocence, as well as basic liberties spelled out in the constitution such as freedom of movement and freedom of speech.
– AFP and Xinhua