Angry protesters clashed with security forces in Burkina Faso on Tuesday before tens of thousands took to the streets in a mass demonstration against a move to let the country’s long- serving president extend his rule beyond 30 years.
The pre-dawn violence kicked off a day of action called by the country’s political opposition against what they say is a constitutional coup by supporters of President Blaise Compaore. Gendarmes in the capital Ouagadougou charged to disperse several dozen youths barricading the country’s main highway fired tear gas at the crowd, who hurled stones in response, according to an AFP reporter at the scene. A colourful crowd of tens of thousands later set off from the capital’s main Nation square, blowing whistles and vuvuzela-like trumpets.
According to AFP’s estimate, the early turnout was well above a previous mass protest in August that saw 100,000 people march against a move to prolong Compaore’s 27 year rule. Protesters carried banners reading “Blaise Get Out!” or “Don’t Touch Article 37″ in reference to the constitutional term limit that risks being scrapped to allow the president to seek re-election next year.
The National Assembly will study a draft constitutional amendment that would extend the maximum number of presidential terms, and allow the president to run again next year.
Compaore was only 36 when he seized power in an October 1987 coup in which his former friend and one of Africa’s most loved leaders, Thomas Sankara, was ousted and assassinated. He has remained in power since then – re-elected four times since 1991 to two seven-year and two five year terms.
In 2005, constitutional limits were introduced and Compaore is therefore coming to what would be a final five year term. The opposition fears new rules — which are not expected to take previous terms into account — would enable Compaore to seek re-election not just one, but three more times, paving the way for up to 15 more years in power.
The third largest party in Burkina Faso’s parliament said at the weekend it would back the constitutional change, setting the ruling party on course to obtain the two-thirds majority it needs to make the change without resorting to a referendum as first promised. Opposition leaders have called on the public to blockade parliament to prevent the review from taking place. Protesters have erected barricades and burned tyres in the capital since the proposal was announced on October 21, with hundreds of women demonstrating with spatulas in their hands and secondary school children deserting classes to join the protests, creating major disruption. Civil society groups have also asked for the project to be dropped, saying the country risks being paralysed if the amendment goes through.
Compaore’s bid to cling on to power has angered the opposition and much of the public, including many young people in a country where over 60 percent of the population is under 25. This means almost two-thirds of the population have spent their entire lives under the leadership of one man and — with the poor former French colony stagnating at around 183rd out of 186 countries on the UN human development index — many have had enough.
