Burkinabes protest planned term extension for Compaore

Thousands of protesters marched through Burkina Faso’s capital city on Tuesday to express their anger at a proposed constitutional amendment to scrap term limits and extend the 27-year rule of President Blaise Compaore.

On Thursday, the national assembly will debate the proposed amendment to the constitution to extend term limits from two to three consecutive terms.

Opposition parties on Tuesday started a civil disobedience campaign to stop the move, which is intended to let Compaore seek reelection in 2015 rather than step down.

According to Reuters, an early-morning march through the heart of Ouagadougou was peaceful but clashes erupted later as the police fired teargas at protesters who tried to advance towards the national assembly.

Having seized power in a 1987 coup, Compaore has won a series of elections, the last of which was in 2010.

Protesters carried banners reading “Step aside!” and “Don’t touch Article 37”, referring to the clause in the constitution that now bars Compaore from seeking reelection after the expiration of his current term in 2015.

Others carried banners comparing Compaore to Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), with one of such banners reading, “We must disinfect ourselves”.

Another set of protesters in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso’s second biggest city, 330 km to the southwest of the capital, pulled down a statue of Compaore.

“The people have decided to start a general popular resistance. The first grievance is to get the withdrawal, pure and simple, of this legal project,” Zephirin Diabre, opposition leader, told the crowd of demonstrators.

Protesters were blocked by security forces who fired volleys of teargas and used water cannons.

The angry crowd in turn responded by burning tyres and throwing rocks. A pocket of demonstrators gathered in a downtown square pledging to hold out until Compaore shelved his plan.

“It’s provocation. They (the authorities) want to set the country on fire,” a young protester said.

“Even if Blaise Compaore burns the country down, he will depart all the same.”

France, former colonial power which uses Burkina Faso as a base for special forces soldiers operating across West Africa, called on Compaore to abide by an African Union charter stipulating that leaders should not change the law to try to stay in power.

“The African Union charter on democracy and good governance Article 23…specifies clearly that constitutional revisions aiming to prevent political change are banned,” Romain Nadal, foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters.

Nadal said breaking the charter could lead to sanctions.

He added that President Francois Hollande had sent a letter to Compaore on October 7 outlining this position.

Photo credit: AFP