Captain Ibrahim Traoré elected new “transitional president” until 2024

Captain Ibrahim Traoré, leader of the coup d’état perpetrated last September 30 in Burkina Faso, has been officially and “unanimously” designated as the country’s new president until 2024 during a “national assembly” held in Ouagadougou, the capital.

The so-called Transitional Charter, which sets out the steps to be taken by the country towards the convocation of elections, provides in its Article 5 that the president of the Patriotic Movement for Salvation and Restoration (MPSR) assumes the functions of transitional president, head of state, as well as the head of the Armed Forces.

The appointment has taken place with the process of signature by Traoré of the Transitional Charter, which comprises a total of 27 articles, according to the local radio station Omega.

The man who was appointed “interim head of state” of the African country on October 2, arrived at the Ouaga 2000 conference room escorted by two armed security guards to sign the text, according to Radio Omega.

Before the declaration, Colonel Célestin Simporé assured, due to the presence of dozens of demonstrators in the streets of Ouagadougou who showed their support for Traoré, that the 300 delegates would satisfy the aspirations of the entire Burkinabe people, as reported by the AIB news agency.

The opening ceremony, which was attended by nearly 300 representatives, was presided over by Captain Marcel Meda, representing President Traoré, as reported by the Burkina Faso Government Information Service on its official Facebook profile.

The coup d’état came after a military mutiny in protest against insecurity and lack of means to deal with jihadism, which is why the soldiers deposed the leader of the Burkina Faso junta and transitional president, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

The uprising, considered a ‘palace coup’ by a sector of the military junta opposed to Damiba — who has fled to Togo –, allowed Traoré to hold the position of “transitional president” after the adoption of a ‘fundamental law’ aimed at “guaranteeing the continuity of the State”.

The MPSR, the official name of the junta created in January following the coup d’état led by Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba against the then president, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, indicated that the provisions contained in the document would be in force “until the implementation of the bodies which will have to carry out the transition until the next elections.”

Burkina Faso has generally experienced a significant increase in insecurity since 2015, with attacks by both Al Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates, leading to a wave of internally displaced persons and refugees to other countries in the region.