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EPDP Editorial 

After 27 years of dictatorship and brutality, the dictator of Burkina Faso, Blaise Campaore who came to power through coup d’état in 1987, fled in disgrace to the neighboring country of Ivory Coast on October 31 following massive protests and unrests that went to the extent of storming and burning his Party’s Headquarters and other government buildings in the capital city of Ouagadougou. The popular uprising was set off by Blaise’s attempt to amend the two term limit provision stipulated in the country’s constitution in order to prolong his reign, which is unconstitutional. But nothing is new here; when things do not go in their favor, it is a common practice for many African authoritarian leaders to repeal term limit, amend it, or come up with a new one in order to stay in power for life.  

Yet, for the people of Burkina Faso, the term limit was only a catalyst in the ouster of president Blaise from power; the protest was against the three decades of absolute rule of president Blaise that brought poverty and inequality, political repression, as well as deprivation of fundamental social and political rights. Again, tens of thousands protesters showed up in the streets of Ouagadougou, and the popular rage instantaneously reached a level of no return and forced Campaore to flee the country. They chanted liberty; they chanted justice; they demanded constitutional democracy; they told their leaders to stop manipulating their country’s constitution.  

Yes, the people of Burkina Faso won; their revolution toppled the one-man dictatorial rule that lasted for 27 years in just few days. Yes, the downfall of president Blaise also brought thrills and new hopes in Burkina Faso. However, despite the excitement and enthusiasm, what we are witnessing in Burkina Faso is not uniquely different from the recent uprisings that brought dictatorships down, and ended up facing power vacuum, political crisis, and instability, especially in African countries - because of the absence of an organized opposition that can pave the way for democratic transition through adopting a constitutional democracy. True, the Burkina Faso’s army, using such a political vacuum and opportunity, and on the pretext of order and stability of the country, it moved in and seized power by dissolving the General Assembly and suspending the constitution. And it declared it formed a transitional government led by one of its own, Lt. Col Isaac Zida, even though the constitution of Burkina Faso states that “the president of the Senate should take over after the national president resigns and an election should take place between 60 and 90 days afterwards.”  

In the midst of all this, the African Union and UN are warning of an imminent sanction against the military - an attempt to force the army to form a civilian transition body until elections are held in the country. But these are all toothless threats. It didn’t work in Egypt and in many other countries that recently toppled dictatorial regimes. The brute fact is majority of African leaders are throwing in such a threat of sanction (a provision adopted by African Union few years ago) not out of commitment to democracy and freedom, but out of fear of similar changes and popular uprising that may happen in their own countries.   

History has repeatedly shown that African opposition forces are either weak, operate along ethnic and tribal fault lines, easily forced into submission by the army, or cooperate with the military for self enriching, a fundamental reason why popular uprising is always at risk of being hijacked in Africa by self-serving groups, mainly the military establishment and extremists. This is an area where African opposition forces in general and Eritrea’s oppositions in particular need to address at the level of building institutions from bottom up, empowering citizens, and creating a cohesive and united leadership.  

Nevertheless, the people of Burkina Faso are holding their ground for now by rejecting the army’s takeover of power. They are aggressively demanding the army to give power and return to its barracks. Time will tell if the opposition forces of Burkina Faso will continue to galvanize the people against the army’s illegal seizure of power by forging unity among various forces under the banner of one message and one cause – an uprising for establishing constitutional democracy. Only then can we dub it an African uprising. 

For Eritreans, the lesson from the uprising of Burkina Faso is this: popular uprisings are unpredictable; they are quick and unstoppable like a powerful tsunami given an opportune circumstance. And they can bring down the most powerful dictator in a matter of days. It is also true that in the wake of popular uprising, chaos, instability, and power vacuum is possible. In our country resistance is simmering against the PFDJ regime. And this resistance will explode in the form of popular uprising; it is a matter of time. The question is where are we? And are we doing enough to prevent power vacuum when the day comes to our country. EPDP knows one thing, and that is disorganized and fragmented popular uprising is more dangerous than anything else for our country.