Government & politics — Burkina Faso

• history: several previous; latest approved by referendum 2 June 1991, adopted 11 June 1991, temporarily suspended late October to mid-November 2014; initial draft of a new constitution to usher in the new republic was completed in January 2017 and a final draft was submitted to the government in December 2017; a constitutional referendum originally scheduled for adoption in March 2019 was postponed; on 1 March 2022 a transition charter was adopted, allowing military authorities to rule for three years and barring the transitional president from
• being an electoral candidate after the transition amendments: proposed by the president, by a majority of National Assembly membership, or by petition of at least 30,000 eligible voters submitted to the Assembly; passage requires at least three-fourths majority vote in the Assembly; failure to meet that threshold requires majority voter approval in a referendum; constitutional provisions on the form of government, the multiparty system, and national sovereignty cannot be amended; amended several times

• chief of state: transitional President Capt. Ibrahim TRAORE (since 30 September 2022); note - on 30 September 2022, a military junta, led by TRAORE, took power and ousted Transition President Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo DAMIBA and took over as head of the Patrio
• tic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration head of government: Prime Minister Joachim KYLEM DE TAMBELA (since 21 October 2022); note - transitional President TRAORE appointed KYLEM DE TAMBELA Prime Minister on 21 October 2022; the position had been vacant since 30 September 2022 when the m
• ilitary ousted former Prime Minister Albert OUEDRAOGO cabinet: prior to the 2022 coups and adhoc suspension of laws and constitutional provisions, Council of Ministers appointed by the president on th
• e recommendation of the prime minister elections/appointments: prior to the 2022 coups and adhoc suspension of laws and constitutional provisions, president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); last held on 22 November 2020 (next were to be held by July 2024, but may be delayed by the transitional government due to security concerns); prime minister appointed by the pre
• sident with consent of the National Assembly election results: 2020: Roch Marc Christian KABORE reelected president in first round; percent of vote - Roch Marc Christian KABORE (MPP) 57.9%, Eddie KOMBOIGO (CDP) 15.5%, Zephirin DIABRE (UPC) 12.5%, other 14.1% 2015: Roch Marc Christian KABORE elected president in first round; percent of vote - Roch Marc Christian KABORE (MPP) 53.5%, Zephirin DIABRE (UPC) 29.6%, Tahirou BARRY (PAREN) 3.1%, Benewende Stanislas SANKARA (UNIR-MS) 2.8%, other 10.9%

Description

prior to the 2022 coups and adhoc suspension of laws and constitutional provisions, unicameral National Assembly (127 seats; 111 members directly elected in 13 multi-seat constituencies by party-list proportional representation vote and 26 members elected in a nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms); 71-member Transitional Legislative Assembly (ALT) appointed by the military junta in 2022 indefinitely replaced the National Assembly

Elections

last held on 22 November 2020 (next were to be held by July 2024, but may be delayed by the transitional government due to security concerns)

Election Results

• percent of vote by party - MPP 34.6%, CDP 13.3%, UPC 10.2%, NTD 5.6%, other 36.3%
• seats by party - MPP 56, CDP 20, NTD 13, UPC 12, other 26
• composition as of October 2021 - men 119, women 8, percent of women 6.3%

• highest court(s): Supreme Court of Appeals or Cour de Cassation (consists of NA judges); Council of State (consists of NA judges); Constitutional Council or Conseil Constitutionnel (consists of the counci
• l president and 9 members) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judge appointments mostly controlled by the president of Burkina Faso; judges have no term limits; Council of State judge appointment and tenure NA; Constitutional Council judges appointed by the president of Burkina Faso upon the proposal of the minister of justice and the president of the National Assembly; judges appointed for 9-year terms with one-
• third of membership renewed every 3 years subordinate courts: Appeals Court; High Court; first instance tribunals; district courts; specialized courts relating to issues of labor, children, and juveniles; village (customary) courts

• Act Together [Kadre OUEDRAOGO]
• African Democratic Rally/Alliance for Democracy and Federation or ADF/RDA [Gilbert Noel OUEDRAOGO]
• Congress for Democracy and Progress or CDP [Eddie KOMBOIGO]
• Convergence for Progress and Solidarity-Generation 3 or CPS-G3 Movement for the Future Burkina Faso or MBF National Convention for Progress or CNP New Era for Democracy or NTD [Vincent DABILGOU]
• Pan-African Alliance for Refoundation or APR Party for Democracy and Socialism/Metba or PDS/Metba [Philippe OUEDRAOGO]
• Party for Development and Change or PDC [Aziz SEREME]
• Patriotic Rally for Integrity or RPI Peoples Movement for Progress or MPP [Roch Marc Christian KABORE]
• Progressives United for Renewal or PUR Union for Progress and Reform or UPC [Zephirin DIABRE]
• Union for Rebirth - Sankarist Party or UNIR-PS [Benewende Stanislas SANKARA]
• Note: only parties with seats in the National Assembly included

• no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent
• yes residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years

ACP, AfDB, AU (suspended), CD, EITI (compliant country), Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINUSCA, MONUSCO, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNITAR, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

chief of mission

Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Eric WHITAKER (since January 2024) embassy: Secteur 15, Ouaga 2000, Avenue Sembene Ousmane, Rue 15.873, Ouagadougou mailing address: AmEmbassy Ouagadougou, Department of State, 2440 Ouagadougou Place, Washington, DC 20521-2440

telephone

(226) 25-49-53-00

FAX

(226) 25-49-56-23

Email address and website

• AmembOuaga@state.gov
• https://bf.usembassy.gov/

chief of mission

Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Jean-Baptiste GAGRE (since 31 July 2023)

chancery

2340 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone

[1] (202) 332-5577

FAX

[1] (202) 667-1882

Email address and website

• contact@burkina-usa.org
• https://burkina-usa.org/