Burkina Faso crisis: African leaders press military to hand over power

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/06/burkina-faso-crisis-presidents-nigeria-senegal-ghana

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Diplomats pressing Burkina Faso’s military ruler to return the country to civilian rule are seeking names of people who could serve as interim head of state until elections are held.

The presidents of Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal are in Burkina Faso to mediate after the African Union gave Burkina Faso’s military a two-week deadline to hand over power or face sanctions that could cripple the country.

However, in a sign of growing tensions, a meeting that brought together the political opposition and others descended into chaos.

Burkina Faso’s president of 27 years, Blaise Compaoré, stepped down on Friday amid mounting opposition to his bid to seek yet another term in office. Compaoré never identified a potential successor and his departure has created a power vacuum in which at least three people have tried to take control of the country in the past week.

Opposition members and other activists stormed out of Wednesday’s meeting after some from the former ruling party showed up for the session.

“We can’t sit in the same room as those who are to blame for the deaths of the victims whose bodies we have not yet even buried,” said Mathias Tankoano, a human rights activist and member of the civil society delegation. “They should be prosecuted for the deaths and for acts against the constitution that have resulted in violence in our country.”

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has backed the mediation effort by the three presidents and reiterated his call for an inclusive dialogue to continue, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding that Ban had encouraged all parties to reach an agreement for a peaceful civilian-led transition as soon as possible.

Dujarric said a joint mission of the African Union, UN and the regional bloc known as Ecowas was continuing consultations with all parties and other forces “to ensure a democratic civilian-led transition in Burkina Faso”. He said the mission would continue its efforts to help resolve the crisis “in line with the national constitution”.

The UN security council expressed full support for the joint mission and urged Burkina Faso’s security forces to hand over power to a civilian-led transition and take immediate steps to restore constitutional order without delay.

On Wednesday the council called on all parties to collaborate and launch “a peaceful, civilian-led and democratic transition process leading to the holding of free, fair, inclusive and credible elections as soon as possible”.

According to the country’s constitution, the speaker of the parliament should be the one in charge until elections can be held, said Roch Marc Christian Kabore, leader of an opposition political party.

Burkina Faso’s military, however, has designated Lt Col Isaac Yacouba Zida as the transitional leader after the departure of Compaoré.

The international community is ramping up pressure to avoid prolonged martial rule or further unrest in Burkina Faso, a country of relative stability in a volatile region marked by coups and power grabs.

The presidents of Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana – Goodluck Jonathan, Macky Sall and John Dramani Mahama – aimed to continue the discussions during their visit to the country.