Burkina Faso’s military said it will not tolerate acts against an army-led transitional government after the ouster of longtime Burkinabe president Blaise Compaore, but the head of the military regime still promised to deliver a “consensus” leader yesterday during talks on installing a unity government.
The army has stepped into a power vacuum left by Compaore, who was forced to resign last week in the wake of violent demonstrations over his 27-year-rule.
Naming Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida as interim chief, the military has said it is acting in the interests of the nation and that “power does not interest us,” but its takeover has sparked angry protests.
Photo: AFP
Zida was locked in negotiations from 10am with diplomats at the Burkinabe Foreign Ministry, while senior opposition figures were due to meet later with their leader, Zephirin Diabre.
“Executive government shall be conducted by a transitional body within a constitutional framework... This transitional body will be headed by a person appointed by the consensus of all actors in public life,” he said.
Zida gave no timetable for the transition, but said he wanted a new regime in place within the “shortest possible” period.
Threatened with economic sanctions, the military has pledged to put in place a transition government formed by “broad consensus.”
The talks build on meetings late on Sunday between Zida and the ambassadors of France, the US and the EU, although it was not clear if any progress had been made.
However, in a statement read to reporters outside the offices of state television headquarters in Ouagadougou, Zida said that the opposition acted irresponsibly when denouncing his leadership.
“Any act likely to undermine the transition process will be suppressed with vigor,” Zida added.
Opposition supporters who led four days of protests to end Compaore’s rule last week scheduled a march for yesterday to demand the military continue talks and allow them to name a leader.
Thousands of people staged a peaceful protest in Ouagadougou on Sunday against the military takeover, demanding a say in who runs the country. Soldiers broke up the rally and fired warning shots to disperse protesters at the national TV station. One person was killed.
Meanwhile, in Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it was confident of maintaining ties with African ally Burkina Faso following the army takeover.
Burkina Faso is one of the three remaining countries in Africa — along with Swaziland and Sao Tome and Principe — that still have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Taiwan has lost allies before following political changes or unrest, with some countries switching ties more than once, including Lesotho, Liberia and Niger.
“The two countries have had solid relations over the past years. The relations will not be affected by the change of their government,” a ministry official told reporters.
The official did not want to be identified as “it’s inappropriate diplomatically” for any country to comment on a situation such as that existing in Burkina Faso.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique