Burkina Faso: Parties Dissolved as Traoré Tightens Control

Burkina Faso’s military-led government has formally dismantled the country’s multiparty system, codifying by decree a ban that had already sidelined political organizations since a series of coups beginning in 2022. The measure, approved by the council of ministers on Thursday, dissolves all political parties and formations, transfering their assets to the state.

Officials framed the decision as institutional repair rather than political suppression, arguing that the party system had become a source of fragmentation during a prolonged security crisis driven by armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Political Division as Justification

Interior Minister Emile Zerbo said the move was part of an effort to “rebuild the state” after what authorities described as widespread abuses and dysfunction within the multiparty framework. A government review, he said, found that the multiplication of parties had “fuelled divisions and weakened social cohesion.”

Zerbo further said authorities concluded that parties had deviated from the guidelines establishing them, reinforcing the government’s case that the system itself had become destabilizing.

The government believes that the proliferation of political parties has led to excesses, fostering division among citizens and weakening the social fabric.

Minister of Territorial Administration Emile Zerbo

Draft laws governing future political organizations would be submitted to the legislature “as soon as possible”, according to Zerbo.

Repeated Clampdown on Dissent

The dissolution follows years of progressive restrictions on political activity. Before the coups, Burkina Faso counted more than 100 registered political parties, with 15 represented in parliament following the 2020 general election.

Prior to the dissolution, parties had already been forced to suspend operations after the September 2022 coup that brought Captain Ibrahim Traoré to power, eight months after an earlier military takeover ousted elected president Roch Marc Kabore.

In 2024, the government ordered internet service providers to suspend access to the websites and digital platforms of the BBC, Voice of America, and Human Rights Watch. These steps have coincided with persistent insecurity across large swaths of the country, where insurgent violence has displaced populations and strained state capacity.

Security Pressure and Elite Control

Security considerations have increasingly dominated official messaging. On January 7, 2026, the ruling junta announced it had thwarted what it described as a sophisticated and imminent plot to assassinate Traoré. Security Minister Mahamadou Sana delivered the claim in a late-night national television address, saying the operation had been stopped in its “final hours.” According to the government, the plot was scheduled for the night of January 3, 2026.

The Drift Away from France

Externally, Burkina Faso’s military leaders have reoriented alliances. Since Traoré seized power in September 2022, the military leadership has steadily dismantled French influence across defense, diplomacy, and information space. French forces were expelled, cooperation agreements were terminated, and Paris was publicly accused by officials of failing to contain insurgent violence despite years of military presence.

In place of France, Ouagadougou has turned to Russia for security support, a shift mirrored by neighboring Mali and Niger. The realignment reflects a broader Sahelian rejection of Western-led counterterrorism frameworks, which juntas argue preserved dependency without delivering stability.

Burkina Faso’s participation in the Alliance of Sahel States formalizes this rupture, prioritizing regional sovereignty and collective security over external tutelage. Alongside Mali and Niger, both also governed by military authorities, Burkina Faso has embedded itself in the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a bloc designed to deepen military coordination and expand economic cooperation among the three Sahelian states.

The party dissolution seemingly fits within this wider recalibration, concentrating authority in the executive as the junta seeks to manage internal threats and redefine governance under prolonged emergency conditions, in a country still haunted by its colonial past.