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Protesters storm Burkina Faso’s parliament Protesters set fire to Burkina Faso’s parliament
(about 1 hour later)
Hundreds of demonstrators have stormed parliament in Burkina Faso’s capital in protest against plans to change the constitution that will allow President Blaise Compaoré to extend his 27-year rule. Demonstrators have set the Burkina Faso parliament on fire in a surge of violence has that forced the government to scrap a vote on plans to allow President Blaise Compaoré to extend his 27-year rule.
Police had fired teargas at the protesters to try to prevent them from moving in on the national assembly building in Ouagadougou on Thursday before a vote on the contentious legislation. The United States and former colonial power France voiced alarm over the unrest in the west African nation and appealed for calm.
The government announced it was calling off the vote, but it was not immediately clear if this was only a temporary move. Hundreds of people broke through a heavy security cordon and stormed the National Assembly building in the capital Ouagadougou, ransacking offices and setting fire to cars, before attacking the national television headquarters and moving on the presidential palace. One man was reportedly killed.
About 1,500 people managed to break through the security cordon and ransacked parliamentary offices, set fire to documents, stole computer equipment, and set fire to cars outside, according to AFP correspondents. Lawmakers were due to vote on the legislation that would allow Compaoré – who took power in a 1987 coup – to contest next year’s election. The government, facing its worst crisis since a wave of mutinies shook the country in 2011, later announced it was calling off the vote but it was not immediately clear if this was a temporary move.
Burkina Faso has been tense for days in the runup to the vote. Police and soldiers were out in force around the parliament building after mass rallies called by the opposition earlier this week. Black smoke billowed out of smashed windows at the parliament building, where several offices were ravaged by flames, including the speaker’s office, although the main chamber so far appeared to be unscathed.
The EU had urged the government to scrap the legislation, warning that it could “jeopardise … stability, equitable development and democratic progress”, and called for all sides to refrain from violence. Several hundred protesters also broke into the headquarters of the national television station RTB, the correspondents said.
Several thousand protesters had marched through Ouagadougou on Wednesday, a day after street battles erupted during a mass rally attended by hundreds of thousands of people in protest against what they see as a constitutional coup by supporters of Compaoré. Crowds of people later massed near the presidential palace but were being held back by troops from the presidential guard who fired warning shots into the air.
Parliament was due to examine a proposed amendment that would allow Compaoré to run for re-election next November. The ruling party headquarters in the second city of Bobo Dioulasso and the city hall were also set alight by protesters, witnesses said.
“October 30is Burkina Faso’s black spring, like the Arab spring,” said Emile Pargui Pare, an official from opposition party the Movement of People for Progress. “The president must deal with the consequences,” said Benewende Sankara, one of the leaders of the opposition, which had called for the people to march on parliament over the Compaoré law.
Government spokesman Alain Edouard Traoré issued a statement on Wednesday hailing the “vitality” of the country’s democracy despite what he termed anti-government “misbehaviour”. The United States said it was “deeply concerned” about the crisis and criticised the attempts to alter the constitution, while France appealed for calm and said it “deplored” the violence.
The European Union had also urged the government to scrap the legislation, warning it could “jeopardise ... stability, equitable development and democratic progress”.
Several thousand protesters marched through the capital on Wednesday, the day after street battles erupted during a mass rally by hundreds of thousands against what they branded a constitutional coup by supporters of the 63-year-old strongman.