Burkina Faso’s military leadership is considering a 30-month transition period to restore constitutional order following a coup last month, according to a drafted proposal.
A commission charged with drafting a proposal for the country’s return to democracy suggested an interim government of no more than 20 members that will be in power for two-and-a-half years, according to an emailed draft of the charter.
The interim president names a civilian prime minister, according to the document, which was verified by a junta spokesman. Members of the interim leadership can’t run in elections at the end of the transition.
The U.S. and the United Nations condemned last month’s military takeover, while the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has demanded an election timeline to restore civilian rule. National meetings to review the transition proposal are scheduled for Feb. 28.
Africa’s fourth biggest gold producer became the third West African country to succumb to a coup in the past year when mutinous soldiers toppled then-President Roch Marc Christian Kabore on Jan 24. The Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Safeguarding, spearheaded by Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, accused Kabore of failing to tackle an sprawling Islamist insurgency.
