By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Burkina Faso’s junta-led government announced the dissolution of all political parties by decree on Thursday.
“The government believes that the proliferation of political parties has led to abuses, fuelled divisions among citizens and weakened the social fabric,” the decree said.
A bill scrapping party statutes, financing rules and the post of opposition leader is expected to be transmitted to the transitional legislative council, the cabinet minutes said.
All assets belonging to the dissolved parties will be transferred to the state.
Before the coup that brought Captain Ibrahim Traore to power in 2022, Burkina Faso had more than 100 registered political parties, with 15 holding seats in parliament after the 2020 election.
The junta government has however clamped down on political dissent in the West African nation since it came on board, with parties already barred from holding public events, but can still operate internally.
The decision to stop any political activity was part of a broader move to “rebuild the state”, Interior Minister Emile Zerbo said, after what he claimed were widespread abuses and dysfunction in the country’s multiparty system.
Traore ousted fellow military ruler Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who ruled only for only nine months in 2022.
Damiba long accused by the current junta of plotting coups from exile, was extradited back from Togo earlier this month.
