Overnight, the president said he had “heard the message” from the protesters and understood “the strong desire for change”
Blaise Compaoré Resigns as Burkina Faso’s President, and a General Assumes Power
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Blaise Compaoré, president of the poor, landlocked nation Burkina Faso,
announced Friday that he had resigned, forced from office by violent
street protests and the burning of the Parliament building 27 years
after he seized power as an army captain in a coup.
His
place was immediately taken by Gen. Honoré Nabéré Traoré, the chief of
staff of Burkina Faso’s armed forces, who said at a news conference that
he would “assume, as of this day, the responsibilities of head of
state.” He said he was acting to fill the power vacuum left by the
president’s departure and to “save the life of the nation.”
Even
as Mr. Compaoré's resignation was broadcast, there were reports that he
was seeking to flee the country in a heavily-armed convoy.
The
chaotic political demise of Mr. Compaoré, 63, who provoked a storm of
dissent over manipulations to extend his rule indefinitely, closed the
book on one of Africa’s most enduring rulers. He signaled few public
regrets as he left.
Decades in Power
Six current national leaders in Africa have been in power
even longer than Blaise Compaoré’s 27-year tenure in Burkina Faso.
“For
my part, I believe, I have fulfilled my duty, my only concern being the
higher interest of the nation,” he said in a resignation statement that
called for elections within 90 days.
With a mix of guile, charm and impunity, Mr. Compaoré, a onetime disciple of the Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi who was known as “handsome Blaise,” had built himself into a regional power broker. His influence far outweighed the strength of his nation, where more than half the youthful population has known no other leader.
Events
here were closely watched across West Africa and elsewhere,
particularly in the handful of countries whose leaders are reported to
be considering measures to extend their tenure. Some analysts said
events in Burkina Faso may be taken as a warning of the perils of such
action.
Residents
reported that a convoy carrying the president was seen leaving the
capital, Ouagadougou, and heading south toward Po, near the border with
Ghana. Some reports said barricades had been thrown up to stop him.
It
was not immediately clear how popular General Traoré's declaration of
power would be, since he is was regarded as close to Mr. Compaoré. Many
protesters had said they favored the former defense minister, retired
Gen. Kouame Lougué, to oversee a transition to new elections.
The
announcement from Mr. Compaoré came on the fourth day of turmoil in
Ouagadougou, as military commanders met privately and demonstrators
urged them to oust the president.
His
departure was the culmination of 24 hours of frantic maneuvering. Mr.
Compaoré declared martial law for a few hours on Thursday, then seemed
to relent, offering negotiations on a transitional government and
rescinding his martial law decree. At one point, General Traoré
announced plans to form an interim authority leading to elections in a
year’s time.
Overnight,
the president said he had “heard the message” from the protesters and
understood “the strong desire for change” in this West African nation
just below the Sahara whose name is translated as meaning the “Land of
the Upright People.”
Mr.
Compaoré also abandoned plans to change the Constitution so he could
run for office again next year — the issue that had set off the
protests. But he rejected calls for his immediate resignation.
On
Friday, opposition leaders urged their followers to “keep up the
pressure,” rejecting the president’s blandishments and calling for his
immediate ouster. Thirty-four opposition groups also said the
“precondition for any discussion of a political transition is the
unconditional departure, pure and simple, of Mr. Blaise Compaoré.”
As
huge crowds gathered in Ouagadougou, one army officer, who was not
identified by name, signaled that the military had abandoned the
president, telling the increasingly impatient protesters that the “army
is henceforth at the side of the people.”
The
protests sprang from a legislative proposal to remove term limits from
the Constitution. They were first introduced in 2000, but, because of a
legal technicality, were only applied to Mr. Compaoré in the 2005
elections, which he won. In 2010 he triumphed again, but he would have
been ineligible to run in 2015 unless term limits were rescinded.
Opposition to the president’s plans for another term had been building for weeks. Anger exploded Thursday as protesters stormed the Parliament building, bursting past police lines to prevent lawmakers from voting on the draft law.
Thousands
rampaged through Ouagadougou, burning the homes of presidential aides
and relatives and looting state broadcasting facilities. Social media
sites showed images of demonstrators toppling a statue of Mr. Compaoré
and carrying off cameras from the state television studios.
Mr.
Compaoré's legacy is rooted in his dueling roles on the continent, both
feeding conflicts in other nations and helping to resolve them.
During the civil war in Sierra Leone more than a decade ago, American officials accused
Mr. Compaoré of fueling the violence by funneling arms to rebels and
sending mercenaries to fight alongside them against United Nations
peacekeepers – in exchange for diamonds.
In
2000, a United Nations panel concluded that it was “highly likely” that
arms had been brought into Burkina Faso and then shipped to fighters in
Angola in breach of Security Council sanctions.
But
Mr. Compaoré has adopted the role of regional peacemaker as well. This
year, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, commended
him for “his contribution to peace and stability in Mali,” including
his help in striking an agreement for a cease-fire after the country was
split in half by an insurgency.
A few years before, the Security Council singled him out for “his critical role” in supporting the peace process in Ivory Coast.
He
was only 36 years old when he seized power in a military coup that
felled his former military colleague, Thomas Sankara, who was killed
under circumstances that have never been disclosed.
Mr.
Compaoré was a student at the World Revolutionary Center in Libya run
by Colonel Qaddafi, the longtime ruler and self-declared king of Africa,
who himself was felled in a violent revolution three years ago.
Fellow
alumni of Colonel Qaddafi’s school include the African warlords Charles
Taylor of Liberia and Foday Sankoh of Sierra Leone, according to a 1999
book, “The Mask of Anarchy,” by Stephen Ellis of the African Studies
Center in Leiden, the Netherlands.
Mr. Ellis described Colonel Qaddafi’s school as “the Harvard and Yale of a whole generation of African revolutionaries.”
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