The military-run government of Burkina Faso has disbanded all political parties and eliminated the laws that governed their activities.
This is in accordance with a decision that the cabinet of ministers of the West African country enacted on Thursday.
Following the suspension of political activity following the coup, the decision made by the military rulers who took over in September 2022 is the most recent attempt to tighten control.
The decision, according to Burkina Faso’s Interior Minister Emile Zerbo, was a part of a larger initiative to “rebuild the state” following what he described as pervasive abuses and dysfunction in the nation’s multiparty system.
He said a government investigation showed that the growth of political parties has fostered divides and damaged social cohesiveness.
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.
All political parties and organizations are dissolved under the decree.
According to the minutes of the cabinet meeting, a bill that repeals the statutes and regulates party financing as well as the opposition leader’s standing would be sent to the present transitional council.
The state will receive all of the dissolved parties’ assets.
Like its neighbors Mali and Niger, the Sahel country has been having difficulty containing Islamist insurgencies connected to al Qaeda and the Islamic State, which over the past ten years have killed thousands and displaced millions. (NAN/Reuters)
