Captain Ibrahim Traore Wants To Step Down As President Of Burkina Faso, But The People Say No.

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On July 1st, 2024, the transitional government of Captain Ibrahim Traore will come to an end. Recall that when he came to power in September 2022 and was appointed interim president of Burkina Faso in October of the same year, Ibrahim Traore pledged to give his support for a transition leading to elections in July 2024. This means that the military government which has been ruling Burkina Faso for more than a year, is about to end. And in line with this, Traore’s administration recently announced that they will hold national consultations at the end of this month to determine the next steps in the nation’s transition to civilian rule. According to a press release signed by Minister of Territorial Administration Emile Zerbo and read on national television, “National meetings have been called for May 25 and 26 in Ouagadougou”. "These meetings will enable representatives of the nation's active forces to deliberate on the next steps to be taken in the transition, which will run until July 1, 2024, as stipulated in the October 14, 2022 charter," the announcement said.

The minister's statement further revealed that “The meetings will bring together representatives from civil society, political parties, and the military to "take stock of the past months, decide whether to continue the transition and what that continuation will be”. This announcement comes after all 71 members of the legislative assembly for transition, the ALT, approved a plan for a transition forum, leaving it to the sovereign people who will meet during the national forum to decide the development of the transition in April. All these moves are in preparation for what happens next after the transition period of Captain Traore ends in July. But the question is, “Is that what the citizens of Burkina Faso want? Do they want a new leader who will be elected to replace Ibrahim Traore? Not surprisingly the answer is NO. The citizens of Burkina Faso have enjoyed the leadership of Ibrahim Traore so much so that on May 11th, thousands of Burkinabes gathered at the Municipal Stadium in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, to pledge support for the extension of Traore’s transition period. This is historic.