The Burkinabè junta received the trade union forces which remain vigilant
The Kosyam palace, presidential residence of Burkina Faso, located in Ouagadougou.
Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-SA 3.0/Sputniktilt
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
After having received the ex-ministers on Wednesday, the junta which took power on January 24 summoned the unions this Thursday to the presidential palace of Kosyam.
The major trade union centers such as the autonomous unions grouped together within the Union Action Unit remain vigilant, to say the least.
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With our special correspondent in Ouagadougou,
Pierre Pinto
It is a meeting that the unions describe as “
making contact
” with the junta.
Thirty minutes of quasi-monologue by Burkina's new strongman,
Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba
, facing representatives of the Union Action Unit, which brings together large central organizations and independent unions.
“
The overall feeling that emerges is that we are today on words, on intentions and for the moment, no action has been taken to allow judgment.
What is certain is that we have principles, it is respect for freedom of association, democracy and people's freedoms.
Consequently, we must evolve in this direction
”, explains Marcel Zanté, president of the UAS and general secretary of the CNTB.
Vigilance therefore and even mistrust for some, who found the tone of the meeting rather worrying.
This is the case of Diallo Moussa, secretary general of the CGT-B: “
We felt threats in what they were saying.
At the same time as they said that they would leave freedom to the trade union organizations to carry out their activities, they also said "except the trade union organizations which would not really be trade union organizations".
I don't know what they're implying, but we think that these are already insinuations that show that they wouldn't tolerate contradiction...
"
As early as Wednesday evening, the UAS published a press release deeming that this situation was the result of the “
poor political, economic and security governance
” of the Kaboré regime.
But above all to recall his "
principle opposition to coups d'etat
".
Unions which, despite this meeting, and like most components of Burkinabe society, remain in a wait-and-see position.
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Burkina Faso