Africa-Press. The ruling military regime in Burkina Faso announced that it intends to dissolve all political parties in the country, after their activities had been suspended since the coup that brought the head of the military council, Ibrahim Traoré, to power in September 2022.
A statement from the presidency, issued following a cabinet meeting, said that political party pluralism “has led to abuses and has contributed to dividing citizens and weakening the social fabric.”
The Minister of Territorial Administration and Mobility, Émile Zerbo, explained that a draft law to dissolve the parties would be submitted “as soon as possible” to the Transitional Legislative Assembly, adding that “the assets of the dissolved parties will revert to the state.”
Zerbo noted that the decision is based on “a thorough assessment of the party system,” which revealed “numerous deviations in the implementation of the legal framework governing parties and political groupings in the country.”
It is worth noting that party activities have been frozen since the latest coup on September 30, 2022—the second in eight months—which led to Traoré’s rise to power. Since then, the country has been in a transitional phase characterized by the absence of political pluralism and the growing influence of the military establishment.
This decision represents an additional step toward entrenching the military council’s dominance over political life in Burkina Faso, and it raises concerns about the future of pluralism and democracy in the country—especially amid the continuing transitional period and the lack of a clear horizon for a return to civilian rule.
