Burkinabè citizens should ‘forget’ about democracy, declared Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the leader of Burkina Faso’s ruling military junta, during a televised press conference on April 2.

The 35-year-old Traoré came to power in September 2022 through a military takeover, marking the country’s second coup in eight months.

A political transition, initiated after the January 2022 coup, was originally scheduled to conclude with elections in July 2024.

No elections in sight

However, the current junta has adopted a charter extending its rule by five years from July 2024. During this period, Captain Traoré is permitted to run in presidential, legislative, and municipal elections slated for the end of this extended term.

The military government dissolved the Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni) in October 2025 and, earlier this year, banned all political parties—whose activities had already been suspended.

“We’re not even talking about elections right now,” Traoré stated. “People need to forget about democracy—it’s not for us.” He reiterated this stance from last year, declaring, “We are not in a democracy.”

During a rare two-hour interview with local and international journalists—including Italy’s Rai and the UK’s Sky News—Traoré addressed questions about his predecessor, former Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who took power in January 2022.

Damiba faces charges as the alleged mastermind behind multiple coup attempts and corruption. He was recently extradited to Ouagadougou from Togo at Burkina Faso’s request.

A judge has already seen him… he is in the hands of the justice system.

Burkina Faso has been plagued by nearly a decade of jihadist violence, resulting in thousands of deaths. The national army and its civilian auxiliaries, the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), have been accused by human rights groups of killing civilians—charges Traoré denied, stating, “There is no evidence.”

The junta leader also revealed that while Russia, Burkina Faso’s ally, supplies equipment, “no one trains the Burkinabe army.” He added, “On the ground, it is Burkinabe soldiers who are fighting.”

Crackdown on international media

Since seizing power, Traoré’s anti-Western, particularly anti-France, military regime has suspended or banned numerous international media outlets and expelled several foreign journalists.