Chaos in Burkina Faso as president dissolves government

Burkina Faso’s military dissolved parliament and announced a transitional government on Thursday after violent protests against President Blaise Compaore, but it was not immediately clear who was in charge. Army chief General Honore Traore said the new government would be installed after consultation with all political parties and would lead the country to an election within 12 months. The move came after tens of thousands of angry protesters packed the streets of Ouagadougou on Thursday to demand Compaore’s departure, storming parliament and setting it on fire and ransacking state television.

Given the need preserve the country from chaos and preserve national unity … the National Assembly is dissolved, the government is dissolved.

Army chief General Honore Traore

In a concession to the opposition, Compaore agreed Thursday to withdraw a bill from consideration in the parliament that would have allowed him to extend his 27-year rule through a fifth term in office. While demonstrators managed to block the highly controversial parliamentary vote, the violent opposition unleashed Thursday underscored the threat Compaore now faces. Crowds also attacked the homes of government ministers and looted shops in the country’s second-largest city, Bobo Dioulasso, witnesses said. Burkina Faso’s former president Thomas Sankara, a leftist leader dubbed Africa’s Che Guevara, was killed in the coup that swept Compaore to power.

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