The Burkinabè opposition once again accused, Monday, November 23, the power of President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, favorite in the poll, of "fraud" during the presidential election on Sunday, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni) has to hardly start to give the first results.

At the end of the day the Ceni, which has a week to announce the name of the winner, had disclosed the results of only fifteen municipalities out of 366. Sunday evening, its president Newton Ahmed Barry had recognized that "around 300 to 350,000 "people out of the 6.5 million voters were unable to vote due to security threats, particularly in the East and the North.

One of the poorest Sahelian countries in the world, Burkina Faso is living its darkest hours since its independence from France in 1960, for five years plunging into a spiral of jihadist and inter-community violence, associated with an often violent repression of the forces. of security.

Attacks by jihadist groups - some affiliated with Al Qaeda, others with the Islamic State organization - have left at least 1,200 dead and driven from their homes a million people, who congregate in major cities. 

This should not however prevent the validation of the results, the National Assembly having adopted in August a modification of the electoral code so that the elections are valid, even if they cannot take place on the whole territory.

The new code specifies that "in case of force majeure or exceptional circumstance (...) resulting in the impossibility of organizing the elections on part of the national territory, the election is validated on the basis of the unaffected part by force majeure ".

A result deemed "inconceivable" 

Elected in 2015, President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, who is running for a second term, is favorite against 12 opponents, including Zéphirin Diabré, leader of the opposition, and Eddie Komboïgo, candidate of the party of former President Blaise Compaoré, whose regime fell six years ago is the subject of growing nostalgia.

The opposition once again considered that the dual presidential and legislative elections were "fraught with fraud", reiterating its threat not to accept "results marred by irregularities". 

The opposition "has very strong reservations about the sincerity and credibility of the results," Tahirou Barry, one of the presidential candidates, told a press conference in Ouagadougou on behalf of the opposition.

"In any case, the signatories of the political agreement (of the opposition) will not accept results marred by irregularities and which do not reflect the will of the Burkinabè people," added Barry, who 'expressed alongside five other presidential candidates including MM.

Diabré and Komboïgo.

The presidential clan promised, as in 2015, a victory in the first round of this election considered to be the most open in the history of Burkina Faso, which has experienced multiple coups d'état since its independence. 

Without showing evidence, the Burkinabè opposition had already affirmed Saturday that a "massive fraud" was in preparation, threatening in the same terms not to recognize "results marred by irregularity".

"It is absolutely inconceivable, after having traveled all over Burkina Faso, to think of having a winning party in the first round", had notably indicated Mr. Diabré.

With AFP

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