Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore called an emergency meeting of his advisers afterprotesters set the National Assembly on fire and took over theheadquarters of the state television.
Compaore’s cabinet began meeting about an hour ago asopposition supporters continued to clash with police in thecapital, Ouagadougou, Jeune Afrique reported. Several peoplehave been injured, Lazare Zougrana, head of the Red Cross, saidby phone. The National Assembly was set on fire and one persondied, Agence France-Presse said.
Lawmakers were scheduled to vote today on a bill that wouldlet Compaore change the constitution and abolish term limitsthat prevent him from running in next year’s election. Thelargest opposition party and labor unions have been protestingin Ouagadougou for three straight days against the bill.
Compaore has been seeking since 2011 to change theconstitution and run for a fifth five-year term in 2015. Thegovernment urged protesters to show restraint on the streetsafter police used tear gas this week at marches to the NationalAssembly and main plaza.
The former military officer would be allowed to run in nextyear’s election if at least 75 percent of parliamentariansapprove the bill. A referendum would be held if support fallsshort.
Compaore has played a role as a mediator in conflicts inMali, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Togo during his presidency. He andThomas Sankara led a coup in 1983 that made Sankara president.Compaore became president after overthrowing Sankara. BurkinaFaso ranks 181st out of 187 nations on the United Nations HumanDevelopment Index, which is based on metrics such as education,health and income.
To contact the reporters on this story:Simon Gongo in Ouagadougou at sgongo@bloomberg.net;Pauline Bax in Accra at pbax@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.netAndres R. Martinez
Compaore’s cabinet began meeting about an hour ago asopposition supporters continued to clash with police in thecapital, Ouagadougou, Jeune Afrique reported. Several peoplehave been injured, Lazare Zougrana, head of the Red Cross, saidby phone. The National Assembly was set on fire and one persondied, Agence France-Presse said.
Lawmakers were scheduled to vote today on a bill that wouldlet Compaore change the constitution and abolish term limitsthat prevent him from running in next year’s election. Thelargest opposition party and labor unions have been protestingin Ouagadougou for three straight days against the bill.
Compaore has been seeking since 2011 to change theconstitution and run for a fifth five-year term in 2015. Thegovernment urged protesters to show restraint on the streetsafter police used tear gas this week at marches to the NationalAssembly and main plaza.
The former military officer would be allowed to run in nextyear’s election if at least 75 percent of parliamentariansapprove the bill. A referendum would be held if support fallsshort.
Compaore has played a role as a mediator in conflicts inMali, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Togo during his presidency. He andThomas Sankara led a coup in 1983 that made Sankara president.Compaore became president after overthrowing Sankara. BurkinaFaso ranks 181st out of 187 nations on the United Nations HumanDevelopment Index, which is based on metrics such as education,health and income.
To contact the reporters on this story:Simon Gongo in Ouagadougou at sgongo@bloomberg.net;Pauline Bax in Accra at pbax@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.netAndres R. Martinez
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