Michel Kafando Picks Lt. Col Isaac Zida as Interim Prime Minister of Burkina Faso? Just when Burkinabe’s and the rest of Africa were beginning to jubilate and to congratulate Burkina Faso for a smooth transition and a peaceful end to their revolution, the military leader, Isaac Zida who on Tuesday, November, 18th, handed over the power of interim president to Michel Kafando, has now been named prime minister of the transitional government. Lt. Col. Isaac Zida will now oversee the formation of the 25 member government that will govern Burkina Faso until elections in 2015. A legislative chamber is expected to be put in place as laid out by the charter signed on Sunday which manage to limit to a great extent the powers of the interim president. The Lt. Col. took over the country as interim leader during a power struggle within the military after former president Blaise Compaore’s ouster. With the people of Burkina Faso, the AU, UN and ECOWAS’ unrelenting demand that the military had over power to a civilian leader mounting, Zida reinstated the constitution which he had earlier suspended, on Saturday and made way for Kafando to be selected for the post of interim president. Compaore who resigned from office on October 31st, ruled Burkina Faso for 27 years, but article 37 of the country’s constitution was bound to end his presidency in 2015. His attempt to have the constitution amended so he could stand for another election, brought thousands of Burkinabe to the streets, protesting and demonstrating till his resignation. The irony is that Isaac Zida was Compaore’s security forces’ second in command. Some pundits have pegged the two as being close. So what change has Burkina Faso made if the president has very limited powers and the prime minister is a fruit of the status quo? Perhaps, the country can still boast of not allowing Blaise Compaore to go on treating Burkina Faso as his inheritance and for the very least making sure that the interim president is a civilian. Doubts still remain with the military man as the number two man in the country. Is this going to play out like it did in Russia between 2008 and 2012 when the then president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev appointed Vladimir Putin as his prime minister but in reality the world knew Putin was the one truly in charge of the country? In Egypt, the military stayed just as close to the transitional government after the president Morsi was removed from office, and now the leader of that military, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is the president of that country. The only thing is that, he seem to be moving the country forward. Burkina Faso’s military has managed to dance around national and international pressure calling for a civilian transitional leader. Its intentions remain to be seen. Would there be elections, free and fair, in 2015, or will the military take over as it has been in some African countries? Hopefully, Burkinabe, Africa and the world will keep watching. pics from EPA and AFP
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 18:47:18 +0000
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