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| Africa Subsaharan | |
| Burkina Faso political transition accord signed | |
| 2014-11-17 | |
The signing ceremony took place at the House of the People in the capital, Ouagadougou. Politicians and representatives of the army, civil society and religious and traditional leaders all participated. An interim president was expected to be confirmed on Monday, while a new prime minister was expected to be appointed by Wednesday. Compaore, who served 27 years in office, resigned on October 31 amid mounting opposition to his bid to seek yet another term, fleeing to Yamoussoukro, the political capital of neighbouring Ivory Coast. He never identified a potential successor and his departure created a power vacuum in which at least three people tried to assume control of the country in the space of a week. After suspending the constitution, the military designated Lt. Col. Isaac Yacouba Zida as the transitional leader, though Zida faced intense pressure to restore civilian rule. On Saturday, Zida announced through a spokesman that the constitution had been restored. "There will be a 'before October 30' and an 'after October 30' in Burkina," Zida said at the signing ceremony on Sunday, referring to the day that anti-Compaore demonstrations escalated dramatically, with protesters setting the parliament building ablaze. "The insistence and the political myopia of the constitutional revision shook us," Zida added. Condemning what he described as Compaore's abuse of authority, he said the ex-president brought about his own exit by trying to change the constitution so he could run again. Under the charter signed on Sunday, a 90-member transition council will serve as the country's parliament, while the prime minister will head a 25-member government. The interim president and ministers in the transitional government will be barred from standing in elections expected to be held a year from now. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |