Following a coup four years ago, Burkina Faso’s military-led government issued an order disbanding all political parties.
The edict was enacted by the West African nation’s cabinet of ministers on Thursday in the midst of the government’s continuous suppression of alternative opinions as it fights to quell insurgencies connected to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
The decision, according to Burkina Faso’s Interior Minister Emile Zerbo, is a part of a larger initiative to “rebuild the state” in response to claimed widespread abuses and dysfunction in the multiparty system.
According to Zerbo, a government analysis revealed that the growth of political parties had exacerbated rifts and eroded social cohesiveness.
All political parties and formations are disbanded by the decree, and their assets will now be transferred to the state.
More than 100 political parties were registered in the nation prior to the coup, and following the 2020 general election, 15 of them were represented in parliament.
Burkina Faso is led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who seized power in a coup in September 2022, eight months after a previous military coup had deposed democratically elected President Roch Marc Kabore.
The military authorities of the nation have severed ties with France, the previous colonial master, and are now looking to Russia for security assistance.
The government ordered internet service providers to block access to the websites and other digital platforms of the BBC, Voice of America, and Human Rights Watch in 2024 as part of its crackdown on dissent.
As it turned away from the West, Burkina Faso formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) with its military-ruled neighbors, Mali and Niger, in an effort to improve military and economic cooperation.
