Burkina Faso to pick transitional president: Decree

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Burkina Faso said on Saturday that a process to pick a transitional president to serve ahead of elections would be held next week, following a coup by frustrated military officers against a ruling junta.

"In view of the adoption of the transition charter, a national meeting will be convened on October 14 and 15," said the decree signed by Burkina Faso's new leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took power a week ago and was named interim President.

Traore, who was officially appointed head of state on Wednesday, had said two days earlier that he would only deal with "current affairs" until a new transitional president, civilian or military, is appointed by a "national conference", indicating that this would happen "well before the end of the year."

The meeting should bring together representatives of political groups and civil society.

This comes after protesters rallied Thursday in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, in support of Traore.

Several hundred people were gathered in front of the national radio and television center in the city.

"We have learned that the generals are in consultation to appoint one of them in place of Captain Traore. It will not do! Not today, not tomorrow," said one of the protesters, Amadou Congo.

The impoverished Sahel nation plunged into renewed turmoil last weekend when Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba -- who had himself seized power in January -- was toppled by newly emerged rival Traore.

This marks the country's second military coup in eight months, with Damiba only assuming power in January after outsing former President Rock Kabore via a coup of his own in light of growing frustration over the state of the country's security. 

It was the latest coup in the Sahel region much of which, like Burkina Faso, is battling a growing Islamist insurgency.

After a meeting on Tuesday between Traore and a delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), one of its members, former President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, said he was feeling "confident".

Traore, 34, vowed that Ouagadougou would continue to respect the commitments made under Damiba to ECOWAS, in particular the organization of elections and a return of civilians to power by July 2024 at the latest in the former French colony.

It is noteworthy that relations between Burkina Faso and France have been deteriorating in light of its failure to contain terrorist groups and activities across the country. France has previously occupied the country and ruled it with an iron fist while still intervening in its internal affairs to this day, ruining the lives of many.

Last week, security forces fired harmful tear gas at protesters outside the French embassy in Ouagadougou. Supporters of Burkina Faso's newest coup gathered outside the embassy one day after Traore accused Damiba of hiding in a French base, plotting a "counteroffensive".

#Burkina - 01 Oct. 18h : Des manifestants allument le feu autour de l'ambassade de #France et tentent d'y pénétrer. pic.twitter.com/Gmh8d2AIMr

— Harouna Simbo Drabo (@HarounaSimbo) October 1, 2022

In January 2022, the national emergency aid agency says that 1.5 million people, nearly two-thirds of them children, were internally displaced as of November 30, attributed to the terrorist violence ravaging the country.