Burkina transition commission proposes 30-month period before elections

A commission set up in early February by the military junta that took power a month ago in Burkina Faso has proposed a 30-month transition before a return to constitutional order.

The report, a draft charter and agenda for the transition, was presented Wednesday to the head of the junta, but its content has not been made public.

It will have to be submitted to the military hierarchy and the country's "active forces" - parties, unions and civil society organizations - before any validation, the source close to the presidency said, confirming the proposal for a 30-month transition period "before the holding of general and inclusive elections".

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which suspended Burkina Faso from the organization on 28 January because of the coup, had asked the junta to present a "reasonable timeline for the return to constitutional order".

The ruling Junta had earlier issued a directive to the commission directing them to consider issues like the restoration of territorial integrity, the consolidation of peace for the return of internally displaced persons, good governance and the return to a new constitutional order".

The commission was composed of 15 members, including lawyers, sociologists, economists and officers.

The 41-year-old Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba took power on 24 January in Ouagadougou after two days of mutinies in several barracks in the country, overthrowing President Kaboré, accused in particular of not having succeeded in countering the jihadist violence that has struck Burkina for nearly seven years and has left some 2,000 dead and 1.5 million displaced.