Burkinabé president to announce candidacy for upcoming election

Roch Kaboré, the current president of Burkina Faso, will be nominated today as the People’s Movement for Progress presidential candidate for the November 22 elections.

Kaboré, who was inaugurated in 2015, is the country’s first elected president in 27 years. Due to the spread of jihadist insurgencies across the country, expect national security to be a key issue come November. In rural areas, tensions surrounding territorial disputes have been exacerbated by insurgency and counter-insurgency campaigns. In urban centres, protests concerning the government’s ineffective handling of the security situation have lingered due to ongoing campaigning by two opposition parties—the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) and Union for Progress and Reform. In response, Kaboré has passed repressive legislation to restrict acts deemed demoralising to security forces.

Kaboré is favoured to win given that the CDP is mired in internal power struggles and has no clear leader. However, Kaboré’s continued use of legislation to reduce critical opposition votes may threaten the credibility of the November elections and create a legal basis for a post-election contestation. A peaceful transition is a critical prerequisite to Burkina Faso’s liberal political trajectory, and violent electoral proceedings could result in an authoritarian regression.

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