In June 2014 Blaise Compaorés ruling party, the CDP, called on him to organise a referendum that would allow him to alter the constitution in order to seek re-election in 2015; otherwise he would be forced to step down due to term limits. On 30 October 2014 the National Assembly was scheduled to debate an amendment to the constitution which would have enabled Compaoré to stand for re-election as President in 2015. Opponents protested this by storming the parliament building in Ouagadougou, starting fires inside it and looting offices; billowing smoke was reported to be coming from the building by Thomson Reuters. Opposition spokesman Pargui Emile Paré, of the Peoples Movement for Socialism / Federal Party, described the protests as Burkina Faso’s black spring, like the Arab spring. Compaoré reacted to the events by shelving the proposed constitutional changes, dissolving the government, declaring a state of emergency and offering to work with the opposition to resolve the crisis. Later in the day, the military, under General Honore Traore, announced that it would install a transitional government in consultation with all parties and that the National Assembly was dissolved; he foresaw a return to the constitutional order within a year. He did not make clear what role, if any, he envisioned for Compaoré during the transitional period.Compaoré said that he was prepared to leave office at the end of the transition. On October 31 Compaoré announced he had left the presidency and that there was a power vacuum; he also called for a free and transparent election within 90 days. Military chief general Honoré Traoré then took over the reigns as head of state in an interim capacity. It was reported that a heavily armed convoy believed to be carrying Compaore was traveling towards the southern town of Pô. However, it diverted before reaching the town and he then fled to Ivory Coast with the support of President Alassane Ouattara.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 05:11:31 +0000
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