Burkina Faso Junta Dissolves All Political Parties in Major Power Consolidation

Burkina Faso’s military-led government has ordered the dissolution of all political parties and political groupings, marking a significant escalation in its consolidation of power nearly three years after the military seized control.

The decision was taken on Thursday during a cabinet meeting chaired by military leader President Ibrahim Traoré. Under the decree, the assets of the dissolved parties are to be transferred to the state.

Authorities also announced that draft legislation has been prepared to repeal existing laws regulating the funding and operations of political parties.

Minister of Territorial Administration Émile Zerbo said the move followed what he described as a “deep diagnosis” of Burkina Faso’s partisan system. According to him, the decision forms part of the broader “refoundation of the state.”

Zerbo argued that political parties had deviated from their legal mandates, contributing to national division and weakening social cohesion. The government maintained that the proliferation of parties had undermined effective governance and fuelled fragmentation.

According to the authorities, dissolving the parties is aimed at preserving national unity, strengthening the coherence of government action and paving the way for reforms to the country’s political governance model.

Burkina Faso has been under military rule since Captain Ibrahim Traoré led a coup in September 2022, the second military takeover in the country that year. The junta has repeatedly cited worsening insecurity, driven by militant groups linked to al-Qaeda and Daesh, as justification for exceptional measures.

General elections, initially scheduled for July 2024, have been postponed indefinitely. While political party activities were largely suspended following the coup, Thursday’s decree marks the first formal dissolution of all parties since the military assumed power.