Experts opinion

Burkina Faso rarely makes the headlines. It is less known for politics than for hosting Africa’s leading film festival.

President Blaise Compaoré has sought to retain domestic support and international confidence through economic development, presenting himself as the face of stable continuity. West Africa’s preeminent diplomatic crisis mediator, he is also a key security ally of the West.

But Compaoré’s regime now faces its gravest crisis since he seized power almost 27 years ago following the unexplained murder of his close colleague, the charismatic revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara.

Now in 2014, seeking to change the constitution so he could run for up to three more consecutive terms of office – starting with next year’s presidential election – he appears to have pushed popular acceptance beyond breaking point.

Earlier this week, hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets of Ouagadougou to demonstrate against a planned parliamentary vote to approve the constitutional change.

Confident it was assured the votes of the necessary 75 per cent majority of parliamentarians, the regime decided to go ahead with the vote anyway. The debate was scheduled for yesterday morning.

But it had to be abandoned after demonstrators broke into the national assembly and set it on fire. They also forced national television off air before moving on to gather outside the presidential palace.

Protesters also trashed the home of a government parliamentarian, the hotel where parliamentarians were reportedly lodged before the constitution debate, and the home of the president’s brother François. There have been protests in Bobo Dioulasso, the country’s second city too, while in Fada Ngourma protesters had already looted the office of the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) earlier in the week.

While loyalist security forces such as the presidential guard tried to resist the protesters – around 30 of whom were killed – some army units appear sympathetic to the demonstrators.