Burkina Faso’s military junta will extend its rule for an additional five years, according to an agreement reached during nationwide consultations, thereby delaying the country’s return to democratic rule. This decision was made public following the signing of a new charter, which culminated from national discussions held in the capital city of Ouagadougou on Saturday.
Colonel Moussa Diallo, the head of the national dialogue’s organizing committee, made the announcement in a statement released after the talks had concluded.
“The duration of the transition is fixed at 60 months from 2 July 2024.”
The newly signed charter, endorsed by Acting President and Military Leader Ibrahim Traore, stipulates that elections signaling the end of the transition period may be held ahead of schedule, contingent upon an improvement in the security situation.
Furthermore, the charter permits Traore to participate as a candidate in the presidential election when it takes place. The army has been governing Burkina Faso since it overthrew the previous government in a military coup in 2022.
The newly adopted charter introduces a novel entity, the “Korag”, tasked with overseeing and regulating the execution of the nation’s strategic objectives across all sectors and by any means necessary. The president holds the authority to determine the composition and functioning of this body, exercising discretion over its operations.
The new charter also eliminates the quota system previously used to allocate seats in the assembly to traditional party members, replacing it with a single criterion: “patriotism”, which will now be the sole determining factor for selecting representatives.
“You have just rewritten a new page in the history of our country,” said the Minister of Territorial Affairs, Emile Zerbo, who opened the meeting on Saturday morning.
The talks were attended by a range of participants, including civil society representatives, security and defense forces, and members of the transitional assembly, but were marred by the boycott of most political parties, which declined to participate in the negotiations.
