Captain Ibrahim Traore, the head of the country’s military, stated on state television on Friday that elections in Burkina Faso are not a “priority” in comparison to “security” nearly a year after taking over in a coup.
Traore declared plans to amend the constitution to make it more representative of the “masses” in addition to his earlier pledge to restore democracy with presidential elections by July 2024.
“It’s not a priority, I’ll tell you that clearly, it’s security that’s the priority” in a country plagued by jihadist violence, he told reporters, referring to the elections.
When Traore seized power he gave himself “two to three months” to improve security in Burkina Faso, but one year on, jihadist attacks still blight the West African nation.
At age 34, Traore was inaugurated in as interim president and made a promise to retake lost territory and promote a transition that would result in elections in July 2024.
Traore said he planned a “partial change” to the country’s constitution, saying on state TV the current text reflects “the opinion of a handful of enlightened people”, to the detriment of the “popular masses”.
A day after the military administration declared it had stopped a coup attempt, Burkina Faso reported on Thursday that four officers had been jailed.
The effort had been thwarted the day before, according to junta statements released late on Wednesday.
The military administration promised to explore “all possible light on this plot” in its statement.
