Burkina Faso Military Extends Governance for Five Years
Burkina Faso’s military regime, which took power in a 2022 coup, announced it will extend its rule for five more years following national consultations on Saturday. Colonel Moussa Diallo, head of the national dialogue committee, confirmed the extension.
“The transition period is set at 60 months from July 2, 2024,” Diallo stated. He also mentioned that coup leader and interim president Ibrahim Traore will be eligible to run in any elections after this transition period.
The national dialogue, initially planned as a two-day event, started on Saturday with the goal of outlining a path back to civilian governance for the West African country, which is struggling with jihadist violence. The military has controlled Burkina Faso since 2022, citing the country’s ongoing security issues as justification for two coups.
Since 2015, jihadist militants linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have carried out an insurgency that has resulted in thousands of deaths and displaced millions.
An earlier national dialogue established a charter that appointed Traore as president and formed a government and legislative assembly. The new charter, agreed upon on Saturday, eliminates quotas for traditional party members in the assembly, instead prioritizing “patriotism” as the sole criterion for selecting deputies.
The initial charter had set a 21-month timeline for the transition to civilian rule, with a deadline of July 1. However, Traore had frequently indicated that holding elections would be challenging due to the ongoing security threats.
This weekend’s talks included civil society representatives, security and defense forces, and members of the transitional assembly, though most political parties chose to boycott the event.
