Burkina Faso’s ruling military government has formally dissolved the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission; a move critics say further consolidates the junta’s control over the political process.
The decision was approved by the Transitional Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, confirming a bill first proposed in July by the military rulers led by Captain Ibrahim Traore.
The change places the organization of future elections under the Ministry of Territorial Administration, ending more than two decades of independent electoral oversight.
Officials defended the move as a cost-cutting measure, calling the commission inefficient and vulnerable to what they described as “foreign influence.” However, observers view it as part of a broader effort by the junta to entrench its power ahead of any future vote.
When the military seized power in September 2022, Traore pledged to hand back authority to a civilian government within 21 months. That timeline was later scrapped. In May last year, the junta extended the transition period by five years and announced that Traore himself could run in the next presidential election.
Since taking power, Burkina Faso’s military leaders have sharply reduced ties with Western nations, particularly France, the country’s former colonial power. In their place, the junta has cultivated closer military and economic relations with Russia, aligning itself with a regional trend among West African military regimes distancing themselves from Western influence.
With the dissolution of the electoral commission, opposition figures and civil society groups warn that the prospect of a fair transition to civilian rule is growing increasingly remote. For now, power remains firmly in the hands of the military, and the path back to democracy looks uncertain at best.
