Ibrahim Traore, the military leader of Burkina Faso, has declared that the people of the country should “forget “about democracy, just three months after his government dissolved all political parties in the nation. In a lengthy interview on state television, Traore cited Libya as an example of a country where he claimed outsiders failed to impose democracy. “People need to forget about the issue of democracy, “he stated. “.
We have to tell the truth: democracy isn’t for us.”He further claimed that “democracy kills, “using Libya as a prime example of this, according to French broadcaster RFI.
Traore’s remarks come after his government dissolved all political parties in Burkina Faso and seized their assets in January. The military leader, who took power in September 2022 following an earlier coup, initially promised to organize elections in 2024. However, he later reneged on this promise, stating that elections would not be held until all parts of Burkina Faso are safe for voting.
Since Traore’s rise to power, the country has faced repeated attacks and hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced. The Independent National Electoral Commission was dissolved in July 2025, with Traore’s government claiming it was too expensive. Additionally, there have been concerns about the government’s targeting of other institutions, including the media and judiciary.
Traore’s government has also faced criticism for forcibly conscripting journalists, political opposition leaders, and prosecutors critical of the military government to the front lines, with some later released. This move against political parties has been echoed by neighboring military governments in Niger and Mali, which are also battling armed group violence and have exited the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc to form their own Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
The violence in Burkina Faso has intensified since Traore took power, with fatalities tripling in the three years since his rise to 17,775 by last May, according to analysis by the US-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Most of those killed were civilians, many by government forces and allied militias.
Source: aljazeera
