Junta-run Burkina Faso to scrap election commission

Junta Supporters in Burkina Faso wave flags during a rally at Place de la Nation Ouagadougou on April 30, 2025. (AFP)

Junta-run Burkina Faso has decided to scrap its national election commission, arguing it is a costly body that is prone to "foreign influences".

Composed of 15 commissioners from political parties and civil society, the Independent National Electoral Commission claims to be an independent body responsible for organising elections.

Elections were due to be held in July last year, but the junta, which took power in a coup in September 2022, ultimately extended its transition by five years.

"Subsidised with nearly half a billion CFA francs (around $870,000) each year.... (it) is budget intensive," Territorial Administration Minister Emile Zerbo said on Wednesday evening.

He said the council of ministers had approved a plan to dissolve the body and that electoral-related issues would now be handled by the territorial administration ministry.

Zerbo said the move would "reinforce our sovereign control on the electoral process and at the same time limit foreign influences".

Burkina Faso's military government prioritises sovereignty and has distanced itself from former colonial ruler France.

It is led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who came to power in September 2022 in a coup -- the country's second in eight months.

The transition to democratic rule, initiated after the first coup in January 2022, was initially scheduled to end in July 2024.

However, the junta in 2024 decided to extend this transition period by five years, allowing Traore to remain at the helm of the country, ravaged by jihadist violence that has claimed thousands of lives for nearly 10 years.

According to the transition charter, Captain Traore will be able to run in the "presidential, legislative, and municipal elections", which should, in principle, be held at the end of these five years.