Burkina Faso Update: Missed Opportunity? :: J. Peter Pham

by J. Peter PhamAfricaSourceOctober 31, 2014

http://www.jppham.com/15572/burkina-faso-update-missed-opportunity

The "soft landing" that so many, both in Burkina Faso and abroad, had worked so hard to achieve is not to be. Following violent protests against an effort to lift constitutional bar on his seeking another term in office, mob actions which brought the landlocked West African country to the edge of the abyss, President Blaise Compaoré announced on Thursday night that he would step down at the end of his current mandate and hand power to a democratically elected successor. In the meantime, the country would be governed by a government of national unity to be established in consultation with all stakeholders. The compromise was not enough for some opposition politicians, who used social media to mobilize crowds to fill the burned out streets of the capital of Ouagadougou on Friday. Facing the prospect of even greater violence, Compaoré did right by his country and resigned the presidency. The military chief of staff, Major General Honoré Nabéré Traoré, has now declared himself the head of state. Thus the opportunity for the first-ever peaceful and democratic transition in the fifty-four-year history of Burkina Faso's independence has been lost.

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http://www.jppham.com/15572/burkina-faso-update-missed-opportunity