African leaders push for Burkina Faso transitional govt

F652B4FD-EFA9-4659-B25E-76FC6057551D_mw1024_s_nOUGADOUGOU. — The presidents of Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal have urged Burkina Faso to appoint a transitional government to guide the country to elections next year following the overthrow of long-time ruler Blaise Compaoré last week.

On Wednesday, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama led the delegation from the West African bloc ECOWAS to help Burkina Faso plot a path to a civilian-led transition after the military named a senior army officer as head of state on Saturday.

Mahama, the current ECOWAS chairman, held talks with Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida, opposition politicians, Compaoré’s supporters, religious leaders and civil society groups. There was a general consensus in favour of a civilian-led interim government, he said.

“There were going to be elections next year. We believe that we should just work with that election date, which is next November,” he said. “This means there will be a transitional government for one year and a new president will be elected.”

Mahama said that Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Senegalese leader Macky Sall, part of the ECOWAS delegation, agreed with the timetable.

Delegates from the meetings with Mahama said that all the separate groups had been asked to select three candidates for the interim presidency.

Mahama said the presidents had recommended that members of the interim authority should not be permitted to stand in the elections next year.

Burkina Faso’s president of 27 years, Blaise Compaoré, stepped down last Friday amid mounting opposition to his bid to seek yet another term in office. Compaoré never identified a potential successor and his departure has created a power vacuum in which at least three people have tried to take control of the country in the past week.

Opposition members and other activists stormed out of Wednesday’s meeting after some from the former ruling party showed up for the session.

“We can’t sit in the same room as those who are to blame for the deaths of the victims whose bodies we have not yet even buried,” said Mathias Tankoano, a human rights activist and member of the civil society delegation.

“They should be prosecuted for the deaths and for acts against the constitution that have resulted in violence in our country.”

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has backed the mediation effort by the three presidents and reiterated his call for an inclusive dialogue to continue, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said — Al Jazeera/Guardian/Agencies.

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