Former president of Burkina Faso Roch Marc Christian Kaboré is still kept captive in Ouagadougou no matter the numerous calls from the international community to set him free, and meanwhile, the transition gets organized in a country he used to lead, one month after the coup that overthrew him in favor of lieutenant colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. The military junta made different official announcements lately to try to lighten the blurred horizon of the Burkinabe people.

Set up by the military junta in the first days of February, a few days after the successful coup, the new commission proposed a transition period of thirty months before a return to constitutional order (meaning new elections). Such a deadline is generally demanded by the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) to enable countries to get back to normality as soon as possible with free elections and the end of diverse sanctions and suspensions. In comparison, Mali proposed a transition period of five years (seriously?) while Guinea refuses to answer on the subject.

Lieutenant colonel Damiba, who was officially appointed president of Burkina Faso on February 16, is going to run the transition if the report is validated. According to the commission, the proposal should be approved by military forces, trade unions and civilian organizations before any validation.

Two years and a half, which means two times less than the Malian announcement. Before knowing whether the ECOWAS will accept it or not, the issue will also be to make sure that the military junta will effectively leave power after the transition period. Malian militaries refused before coming up with that five-year proposal. Two years and a half seems a lot for a transitional period, and the militaries holding power may be reluctant to say goodbye after nearly three years of power. Same issues.