Burkina Faso’s transitional Parliament has voted unanimously on Monday to dissolve all political parties whose activities had been suspended since September 2022, formally ending their existence in the country.
The decision follows the adoption of a new bill which the Government says is intended to overhaul and fundamentally reorganise national political life.
The new law repeals two key legal frameworks: the charter governing political parties and the legislation regulating party and campaign financing, as well as the status of the political opposition. Authorities argue that the reforms are necessary to reset a political system they say has contributed to deep
divisions within Burkinabè society.
Minister of Territorial Administration Émile Zerbo said the move is aimed at a complete reorganisation of the political landscape, accusing the party system of fragmenting the population.
However, critics have described the decision as a major democratic setback. One political analyst warned that the measure represents a regression from the pluralism that emerged after the 2014 popular uprising, arguing that dissenting voices are now systematically silenced.
The analyst added that the law effectively extinguishes remaining hopes for democratic governance, noting that civil society organisations have also been suspended since Captain Ibrahim Traoré came to power.
The analyst further alleged that critics of the military-led authorities have been abducted and forcibly sent to the front lines in the fight against armed groups, underscoring growing concerns over political freedoms under the current transition.