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Ouagadougou — Burkina Faso will return to civilian rule and reinstate an interim government led by President Michel Kafando. The decision comes after Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi held talks with coup leader general Gilbert Diendere in the capital Ouagadougou. “We may hope again,” Boni Yayi said at a press conference after a third round of talks with Diendere late on Saturday.
“We’re going to relaunch the transition that was underway — a transition led by civilians, with Michel Kafando,” he added, saying that more details of the “good news” would be provided later. Soldiers from the elite presidential guard (RSP) stormed into a cabinet meeting on Wednesday and abducted President Kafando and Isaac Zida, the prime minister, disrupting a transition period due to end with polls next month.
Diendere, a former spy chief and close ally of Blaise Compaore, the former long-term president, was named junta head the next day. It was not clear if the alleged deal included amnesty for Diendere or if the election schedule could be restored. At least 10 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in street clashes with soldiers since the coup.
The coup derailed a year-long transition process that followed the fall of long-time President Blaise Compaore during a popular uprising last October. Elections were supposed to be held on October 11, but Diendere, a former top Compaore aide, has said that date is too soon. The coup was swiftly condemned by former colonial power France, the United States, the United Nations and the African Union, which suspended Burkina Faso on Friday.
The AU gave coup leaders 96 hours, or until tomorrow, to restore the transitional government or face travel bans and asset freezes. The military released a statement on Friday saying that it had released Kafando from military custody but the interim prime minister remained under house arrest.
Hundreds of anti-coup demonstrators burned tyres at roadblocks in Burkina Faso’s capital on Saturday as West African mediators continued pursuing a negotiated resolution to the country’s political crisis following the toppling of the transitional government earlier this week. North of the city centre, smoke rose from barricades where crowds chanted slogans denouncing Diendere, who was named leader of Burkina Faso on Thursday after members of the elite Presidential Security Regiment stormed a government meeting and detained the acting president and prime minister.
Soldiers from the regiment fired on protesters after the coup was announced, killing at least six people, but they had little presence on the streets of Ouagadougou on Saturday, emboldening demonstrators who cried out “Homeland or death!” Macky Sall, president of Senegal and acting chairperson of the regional Ecowas body, continued meeting with allies and opponents of the Compaore regime. He was joined by Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi.
But on Friday night, after a full day of talks, he noted that the camps showed little will to negotiate. “There’s a critical lack of dialogue among actors, and this will negatively affect national unity and cohesion,” Sall warned. Transition officials have insisted the junta must go.
“The mediators are here to help us find a compromise, but there are things that are non-negotiable,” said transitional lawmaker Jean Hobert Bazie, who joined other lawmakers in calling for the return of Kafando, who was released from military custody on Friday. — AlJazeera
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