Burkina Faso’s transitional president on Friday signed a decree to disband the presidential guard that staged a coup more than a week ago.
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In their statement, they also called for “the resumption of the transition without delay, including the holding of free, fair and credible elections, in accordance with the Constitution and Transitional Charter of Burkina Faso“.
The party described as victory for peace and democracy the reinstatement of the Interim Government of Burkina Faso and the relinquishing of power by the “putschists” without a major military confrontation “that would have further destabilised the fragile country and caused needless destruction and deaths”. A formal decision has not been made, but the government is considering the option, he said. The vote was originally scheduled for October 11, but Zida said on Friday the election would be postponed by at least several weeks.
Members of the presidential guard mounted the coup last week, unhappy that the transitional government had barred supporters loyal to former President Blaise Compaore from participating as candidates in the country’s national election.
On September 16, the elite presidential guard, the RSP, seized interim president Michel Kafando, acting prime minister Yacouba Isaac Zida and two other government ministers, announcing a coup the following day. Regional partners of the African country suggested November 22, and recommended that Compaore’s allies be allowed to compete. “I think the soldiers implicated in this coup and even the politicians have realized that (a coup) is something which can no longer come off in this country”, spokesman Guy-Herve Kam told the AFP news agency.
Zida, who once served as one of the top commanders of the presidential guard, hinted that the coup leaders would face trial.
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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo represented President Buhari Wednesday in Ouagadougou where the deal was finally sealed but noted that there are still hard issues to be resolved as fallouts of the coup crisis but said “progress would continue.”
