2023-09-29 23:09:19
– Elections are not “a priority” for the military
Captain Traoré, in power in Burkina Faso since a coup in September 2022, intends to partially modify the Constitution.
Published today at 1:09 a.m.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré said he declared “on the first day” of his seizure of power that he wanted to “spend the minimum possible time in this fight” once morest the jihadists.
AFP
The elections in Burkina Faso are not “a priority” unlike “security”, in this country undermined by jihadist violence, said Captain Ibrahim Traoré, on national television, almost a year following coming to power. by a coup d’état.
The captain also announced a “partial modification” of the Constitution, a text which according to him reflects “the opinion of a handful of enlightened people”, to the detriment of a “popular mass”. The elections, “it is not a priority, that, I tell you clearly, it is security which is the priority”, in this country undermined by jihadist violence, replied Ibrahim Traoré to the journalists who interviewed him Friday evening on Radio Télévision Burkinabè (RTB).
“We have to ensure security”
The media mentioned elections theoretically scheduled for July 2024. If the elections do not constitute “a priority”, Ibrahim Traoré nevertheless added that “our bet still stands” to organize a poll, without specifying a date. At the head of Burkina Faso since September 30, 2022, he recalled having declared “on the first day” of his taking over that he wanted to “do the minimum possible time in this fight”.
“There will not be an election which will be concentrated only in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso and in a few surrounding towns, all Burkinabè must choose their president,” he said, referring to the two towns. spared from frequent jihadist attacks. Regarding a possible change to the Burkinabè fundamental law, Ibrahim Traoré estimated that “the current texts do not allow us to evolve peacefully”.
“We are going to touch one part” and make a “partial modification” of the Constitution, he said, deploring that the text only reflects, according to him, “the opinion of a handful of enlightened people”, to the detriment of a “popular mass”. Several thousand people demonstrated Friday in Ouagadougou and other cities across the country in support of the military regime, calling for the adoption of a new Constitution.
No discomfort in the army
Asked regarding the attempted coup d’état revealed Wednesday by the government, before the arrest of four officers – two others are on the run -, Ibrahim Traoré spoke of “manipulated individuals”, affirming that there was “no of malaise” in the army. When he took power, Ibrahim Traoré notably cited the deterioration of the security situation to justify this coup d’état.
Since 2015, recurring jihadist violence has caused more than 17,000 deaths and more than two million internally displaced people in Burkina Faso alone. “We are at war,” declared Ibrahim Traoré. The transitional president, who is banking on the massive recruitment of civilian auxiliaries to the army, the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP), assured of their “good collaboration” with the soldiers.
Representing tens of thousands of people, the VDP, who pay a heavy price during jihadist attacks, “are perhaps more numerous than the army,” said Ibrahim Traoré. He also blamed “certain actors” who do not help strengthen the army’s equipment. “They refuse to sell us” equipment, he lamented, adding that “most of our equipment is Russian” and that there is “not much” “French equipment”.
“Either you are with the homeland or you are once morest it”
Since obtaining the departure of French soldiers from its soil in February, Burkina Faso has sought new allies. The country has notably moved closer to Russia, which “has never colonized a single country”, affirmed Ibrahim Traoré. Burkina Faso formed an alliance with Mali and Niger, two countries led by military regimes, with whom it created the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a defense cooperation.
“We support the army of Niger”, threatened with armed intervention by West African states since a coup d’état, “to protect its population”, indicated Captain Traoré. After sine die and temporary suspensions of French media and a Burkinabè radio, Captain Traoré affirmed that “individual freedoms must not take precedence over collective freedoms”. “Either you are with the homeland or you are once morest the homeland,” he added.
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