This Friday, a national conference will kick off in Ouagadougou, to adopt for Burkina Faso, a transitional charter, after the institutional crisis that has been plaguing the country for several months.
Until the eve of the opening of the national conference convened by Captain Ibrahim Traore, doubts have hovered over the real intentions of the young 34-year-old officer. Originally, in an interview with Radio France Internationale (Rfi) on October 3, he did not settle the debate on whether or not to remain at the helm of Burkina Faso. “We will have a civilian or military president,” he said. Except that an event seems to have clarified the position of the mastermind of the September 30 coup against Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henri Damiba, who himself overthrew Roch Marc Kabore last January.
A draft transitional charter attributed to Captain Traore and widely circulated on Thursday, October 13, states in Article 5 that “the president of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR) is the President of the transition, the Head of State, and the Chief Commander of the national armed forces. The second paragraph of this provision states that “He shall be replaced by the Prime Minister in the event of a power vacuum.”
But the leaked document remains a draft and the MPSR has not yet officially confirmed that it comes from its leader, even though several APAnews sources, including within the junta, maintain that the document is indeed authentic. Following his arrival in power, Captain Traore had indicated that he was expediting current affairs before the appointment of a transitional president. “This message was intended more for the outside world, for partners, to show that he is not particularly keen on power. But I am convinced that if things go as they should, he will stay in power,” Ibrahima Kane, a specialist in West African regional issues told APanews
“The other day, he was presented as the one the military has designated to be their leader. Unless something extraordinary happens, I don’t see how the military is going to hand over power to civilians and go about their business. One of the reasons for the seizure of power, according to the new military junta, is the lack of support from the central government for the troops on the ground to carry out their missions. The military is in a better position than anyone else to organize this coordination and to ensure that the bulk of the troops on the ground are supported,” Ibrahima Kane went on to say.
On Thursday, October 13, demonstrators blocked the road leading to several cities in the country in support of Captain Traore, whose stay in power they demand. In Bobo-Dioulasso, more than 300 kilometers east of Ouagadougou, tensions led to the closure of the market, while France invited its citizens to be cautious on the occasion of this National Conference that will also discuss the duration of the transition. The document consulted by APAnews sets it at 21 months from October 2. This was one of the concerns of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
On Tuesday, October 4, the sub-regional institution sent a high-level mission to Captain Traore to ensure that the commitments made by his predecessor would be respected. At the end of this visit, the former president of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, the ECOWAS mediator for Burkina Faso, said he was “satisfied with the exchanges” with the young captain.
If he is confirmed as head of state at the end of the national conference, he will strive to “restore and strengthen security throughout the country, provide an urgent, effective and efficient response to the humanitarian crisis, promote good governance and the fight against corruption, undertake political, administrative and institutional reforms to strengthen the democratic culture and consolidate the rule of law, work for national reconciliation and social cohesion, and ensure the organization of free, transparent and inclusive elections,” as recommended in Article 2 of the draft charter.
AC/fss/abj/APA