Burkina Faso to hold historic polls

OUAGADOUGOU: Burkina Faso votes in its first free election in three decades this weekend, choosing a replacement for long-time leader Blaise Compaore, who was ousted a year ago in a military-backed uprising.

The polls were pushed back from Oct 11 after an abortive coup in September by the now-disbanded elite presidential guard, but are expected to pass off peacefully.

“This is definitely the most open election since the country’s independence,” said Cynthia Ohayon, West Africa analyst for the International Crisis Group. “You actually don’t know who is going to win, even though there are front-runners.”

Mr Compaore ruled the former French colony, a cotton and gold producer, for 27 years until his bid to change the constitution to maintain his power provoked protests that eventually forced his resignation.

Fourteen candidates have put themselves forward but, in the absence of accurate opinion polls, analysts say only two have a real chance of winning: Roch Marc Kabore, once a premier under Mr Compaore, and Zephirin Diabre, a businessman.

Mr Kabore heads the Movement of People for Progress, made up of disaffected allies of the former president who left the party months before Mr Compaore stood down. Mr Diabre fronts the Union for Progress and Change, which was the formal opposition.

Mr Kabore draws support from the business elite and, as a member of the largest ethnic group, traditional chiefs. Mr Diabre has international ties from his years at the United Nations Development Programme and Areva, a French nuclear firm.