Burkina Faso’s new military leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traore said the West African nation will hold an election by 2024 or even earlier, as regional mediators delayed their visit following the country’s second coup this year.
Traore said this in an interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI) Monday as he maintained that the goal of an election by July 2024 is still possible.
“We hope that the return to normal constitutional order will take place even before that date; if the situation allows it,” he told RFI.
The September 30 coup d’etat is the latest setback for ECOWAS, the regional bloc that tried to steer three of its 15 countries back toward democracy after a spate of coups in West Africa over the last two years.
However, ECOWAS had reached an agreement with ousted leader Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba to hold a new vote by July 2024. Damiba, who had seized power in a coup early this year, agreed to resign Sunday and left for the neighbouring nation of Togo.
A visit from an ECOWAS delegation was postponed from Monday to Tuesday, local media reported.
