After years of inactivity, Burkina Faso’s political parties have been formally dissolved by the junta, which has also seized all its assets, a move analysts say is a major blow to the West African country’s democracy.
In a decree issued on Thursday, the government led by Captain Ibrahim Traore repealed all laws establishing and regulating political parties, citing their failure to comply with guidelines.
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The troubled West African country is suffering from violence by ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda-linked militants. It is one of the countries in which coups have been occurring in an increasing number of countries in West and Central Africa in recent years.
Traore took power in September 2022, eight months after a previous military coup overthrew democratically elected President Roque Marc Cavoa.
Traoré, 37, has managed to amass a cult following online among Pan-Africanists, with many likening him to the late Burkina Faso revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, despite strong criticism from rights groups and opposition politicians for his authoritarian approach.
Traore’s anti-colonial and anti-imperialist statements, often broadcast in high-definition AI-generated videos, have received widespread praise on the internet.
But the decision to ban political parties is bad for democracy, Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at Dakar-based intelligence firm Control Risk, told Al Jazeera.
“The military regime [remain] It has had a huge impact, especially after the recent decree appointing Mr. Traore to the judicial supervisory position,” Ochieng said, referring to the December 2023 constitutional amendment that brought the courts under direct control of the government.
Going forward, “there will be very limited division of power and autonomy across the civil and political spheres,” Ochieng said, adding that the junta is likely to remain in power for an extended period of time.
Why were political parties banned?
The Burkina Faso government claims that existing political parties have not followed the norms on which they were founded.
In a televised statement after Thursday’s Council of Ministers meeting where the new decree was approved, Interior Minister Emil Zerbo said the decision was part of a broader effort to “rebuild the country” following allegations of widespread abuse and dysfunction in the country’s multiparty system.
He said a government study found that the proliferation of political parties was increasing division in the country and weakening social cohesion.
“The government believes that the proliferation of political parties has led to overreach, exacerbated divisions among the people and weakened the social fabric,” Zerbo said.
He did not go into details about the alleged excesses of each political party.
How were political parties run in the past?
Before the 2022 coup that brought the current military leadership to power, Burkina Faso had more than 100 registered political parties, and after the 2020 general elections, 15 parties were represented in parliament.
The most powerful party was the ruling People’s Progressive Movement (MPP), which won 56 of the 127 seats in parliament. The Democratic Progressive Congress followed with 20 seats, followed by the Democratic New Era with 13 seats.
But the civilian government faced months of protests as thousands of people took to the streets in large parts of the country to protest the deteriorating security situation caused by armed groups.
Traore took power in 2022, promising to end violence by armed groups. He also promised the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional coalition that his government would hold elections by 2024.
However, after the 2022 coup, political parties were banned from holding rallies, and Traore’s government held a national convention one month before the 2024 deadline, but postponed the election to 2029 after several parties boycotted it.
Burkina Faso, along with Mali and Niger, withdrew from ECOWAS in January last year and formed a new economic and military alliance, the Alliance of Sahel States. They also withdrew from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In July 2025, the Traore government dissolved the Independent National Electoral Commission, citing its costs as too high.
Has the security situation deteriorated under the Traore administration?
According to the African Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), the landlocked country of Burkina Faso is currently at war with several armed groups that have taken control of land in the north, south and west, representing about 60% of the country.
The most active groups are the al-Qaeda-backed Jamaat Nusrat al-Islami Muslimeen (JNIM) and Islamic State in the Sahel Province (ISSP), which also operate in neighboring Mali and Niger.
The group wants to rule the territory according to strict Islamic law and opposes secularism.
By December 2024, the three members of the Sahel Alliance will cut ties with former colonial power France and instead rely on Russian fighters for security assistance after accusing Paris of unduly interfering in their affairs.
Meanwhile, it expelled more than 5,000 French soldiers who were providing support in the fight against the insurgents. A small contingent of about 2,000 Russian security personnel is currently stationed in the three countries.
However, violence in Burkina Faso and the wider Sahel region is worsening.
The death toll has tripled in the three years since Traore’s government took power, reaching 17,775 people (mostly civilians) by May last year. Three years ago, ACSS recorded a total of 6,630 deaths.
In September, Human Rights Watch accused JNIM and ISSP of massacring civilians in northern Djibo, Golom-Golom, and other towns, causing tens of thousands of people to be displaced since 2016.
HRW similarly accuses the Burkina Faso army and its allied militia, the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland, of atrocities against civilians suspected of collaborating with armed groups. HRW said in an April 2024 report that the military killed 223 civilians, including 56 infants and children, in attacks on the northern villages of Nong Dinh and Solo in early 2024.
Similar attacks by armed groups have been recorded in Mali and Niger. Mali’s capital, Bamako, has been cut off from fuel supplies by JNIM fighters for months.
On Wednesday night, the Nigerian military thwarted a heavy attack on the airport in the capital, Niamey. No armed group has yet claimed responsibility.
Is civic space shrinking in Burkina Faso?
Since taking power, the Ouagadougou government has been accused by human rights groups of cracking down on dissent and restricting press and civil liberties.
Immediately after the coup, all political activities were suspended.
In April 2024, the government also targeted the media, ordering internet service providers to suspend access to the BBC, Voice of America, HRW websites and other digital platforms.
Meanwhile, authorities forced dozens of government critics into military service and sent them to fight against armed groups. Several prominent journalists and judges who spoke out against increasingly restrictive rules on press and judicial freedoms were arrested.
Abdul Ghafarou Nakro, a deputy prosecutor at the country’s high court, was one of at least five senior law enforcement officials who were forcibly drafted into the military in August 2024 and sent to fight armed groups after speaking out against the military regime. Mr. Nakuro’s whereabouts are currently unknown.
As an example, in April 2025, three abducted journalists resurfaced in a social media video 10 days after they went missing. Gezma Sanogo, Bukari Uoba and Luc Pagbergem were all apparently forced to serve in military uniform. They have all been released since then.
However, several others, including opposition politicians, remain missing.
