Burkina Faso’s military-led government has escalated its political crackdown by issuing a sweeping decree to dissolve all political parties, four years after they were first forced to suspend activities following a coup.
The decision, adopted by the council of ministers on Thursday, comes amid mounting repression of dissenting voices and deepening insecurity as the West African nation battles entrenched insurgencies linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
Burkina Faso‘s Interior Minister Emile Zerbo said the decision was part of a broader effort to “rebuild the state” after alleged widespread abuses and dysfunction in the country’s multiparty system.
Zerbo said a government review found that the multiplication of political parties had fuelled divisions and weakened social cohesion.
The decree disbands all political parties and political formations, with all their assets now set to be transferred to the state.
Before the coup, the country had more than 100 registered political parties, with 15 represented in parliament after the 2020 general election.
Burkina Faso is led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who seized power in a coup in September 2022, eight months after an earlier military coup had overthrown democratically elected President Roch Marc Kabore.
The country’s military leaders have cut ties with former colonial ruler France and turned to Russia for security support.
In 2024, as part of its crackdown on dissent, the government ordered internet service providers to suspend access to the websites and other digital platforms of the BBC, Voice of America and Human Rights Watch.
As it turned away from the West, Burkina Faso joined forces with neighbouring Mali and Niger, also ruled by military governments, in forming the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in a bid to strengthen economic and military cooperation.
