The people of Burkina Faso must “forget” about democracy, said the country’s junta ruler on Thursday in an interview broadcast on national television.
Captain Ibrahim Traore took over in a September 2022 coup after toppling another junta, and has sharply muzzled dissenting voices since then.
The military government dissolved the country’s electoral commission last year and then in February, the junta-led parliament dissolved all political parties, whose activities had been suspended since 2022.
“We’re not even talking about elections, first of all,” Traore said in the interview with state broadcaster RTB.
“People need to forget about the issue of democracy. Democracy isn’t for us.”
The country’s stated transition to democratic rule, initiated after the first coup in January 2022, was scheduled to end in July 2024.
