Burkinabe military-appointed panel backs ’30-month transition’ | News

The panel’s mandate was to decide on a framework for a political transition to elections after the January 24 coup.

A panel appointed by Burkina Faso’s military coup leaders to draft a transition to democracy has reportedly recommended a 30-month delay until elections.

The report was submitted on Wednesday by panel chair Mariam Ouattara to coup leader Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba at a ceremony in the capital, Ouagadougou.

The 15-person panel, which includes military officers and technocrats, was established two weeks ago by Damiba, who removed President Roch Kabore on January 24. It was tasked with setting the framework for a political transition and a return to a new constitutional order.

While details of the report were not immediately disclosed, sources told Reuters news agency that the panel recommended a 30-month transitional period to elections.

The recommendation would align with the military’s intention to rule for approximately two years before organising elections, a source told Al Jazeera.

The panel also reportedly proposed a transitional government in the West African country of up to 20 ministers and a transitional parliament of 51 members.

Ouattara indicated that the report was the result of a consensus within the commission.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which suspended Burkina Faso from its governing bodies following the coup, has asked the military authorities to rapidly propose a timetable for the restoration of constitutional order.

Damiba was inaugurated as Burkina Faso’s president on February 16, three weeks after the coup.