Royal News :
The Royal House Of Maharaja Adinda Aranan under the Royal Order Of
Maharaja Adinda Aranan of Sulu appointed The President Of Republic Of Burkina
Faso, His Most Excellency Datu Laksamana Di Raja Dr. Blaise Compaore as the
Grand Commander Of The Royal Order.
His Most Excellency born 3 February 1951, is a Burkinabé politician who
was president of Burkina Faso from 1987 to 2014. He was a top associate of
President Thomas Sankara during the 1980s, and in October 1987, he led a coup
d'état during which Sankara was killed. Subsequently, he introduced a policy of
"rectification", overturning the Marxist policies pursued by Sankara.
He won elections in 1991, 1998, 2005, and 2010 in questionable circumstances.
His attempt to amend the constitution to extend his 27-year term caused the
2014 Burkinabé uprising. On 31 October 2014, Compaoré resigned, whereupon he
fled to the Ivory Coast.
Early career
Compaoré was born in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso (then
named Upper Volta) and grew up in nearby Ziniaré. He reached the rank of
captain in the Voltaïc army. Compaoré met Thomas Sankara in 1976 in a military
training center in Morocco, and subsequently Compaoré and Sankara were
considered close friends. Compaoré played a major role in the coups d'état
against Saye Zerbo and Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo. He has been married to Chantal
Compaoré (née Chantal Terrasson) since 1985.
Under Sankara's leadership, which lasted from 1983 to 1987, Compaoré
was his deputy and was a member of the National Revolutionary Council. He
served as Minister of State at the Presidency and subsequently as Minister of
State for Justice.
Politics
Compaoré was involved in the 1983 and 1987 coups, taking power after
the second in which his predecessor Sankara was killed. He was elected
President in 1991, in an election that was boycotted by the opposition, and
re-elected in 1998, 2005, and 2010.
1983 coup
At the age of 33, Compaoré organized a Coup d'état, which deposed Major
Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo on 4 August 1983. The coup d'état was supported by
Libya, which was, at the time, on the verge of war with France in Chad (see
History of Chad). Other key participants were Captain Henri Zongo, Major
Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani and the charismatic Captain Thomas Sankara—who
was pronounced President.
1987 coup
Compaoré took power on 15 October 1987 in a coup during which Sankara was
killed. Compaoré described the killing of Sankara as an "accident",
but the circumstances have never been properly investigated. Upon taking the
presidency, he reverted many of the policies of Sankara, claiming that his
policy was a "rectification" of the Burkinabé revolution.
Initially ruling in a triumvirate with Henri Zongo and Jean-Baptiste
Boukary Lingani, in September 1989 these two were arrested, charged with
plotting to overthrow the government, summarily tried, and executed.
1991 and 1998 elections
Compaoré was elected as president in 1991 in an election boycotted by
the main opposition parties in protest at the questionable means Compaoré had
used to take office in the first place. Only 25 percent of the electorate
voted. In 1998, he was re-elected for the first time. In 2003, numerous alleged
plotters were arrested, following accusations of a coup plot against Compaoré.
In August 2005, he announced his intention to contest the next presidential
election. Opposition politicians regarded this as unconstitutional due to a
constitutional amendment in 2000 limiting a president to two terms, and
reducing term lengths from seven to five years. Compaoré's supporters disputed
this, saying that the amendment could not be applied retroactively, and in
October 2005, the constitutional council ruled that because Compaoré was a
sitting president in 2000, the amendment would not apply until the end of his
second term in office, thereby allowing him to present his candidacy for the
2005 election.
2005 election
Palais Kossyam, since 2005 the president's official residence
On 13 November 2005, Compaoré was re-elected as president, defeating 12
opponents and winning 80.35 percent of the vote. Although sixteen opposition
parties announced a coalition to unseat Compaoré early on in the race,
ultimately nobody wanted to give up their spot in the race to another leader in
the coalition, and the pact fell through.
Following Compaoré's victory, he was sworn in for another term on 20
December 2005.
2011 protests
Main article: 2011 Burkinabè protests
On 14 April 2011, Compaoré was reported to have fled from the capital
Ouagadougou to his hometown of Ziniare after mutineering military bodyguards
began a revolt in their barracks reportedly over unpaid allowances. Their
actions eventually spread to the presidential compound and other army bases. In
the night, gunfire was reported at the presidential compound and an ambulance
was seen leaving the compound. Soldiers also looted shops in the city through
the night.
2014 uprising
Main article: 2014 Burkinabé uprising
In June 2014 Compaoré's ruling party, the Congress for Democracy and
Progress (CDP), called on him to organise a referendum that would allow him to
alter the constitution in order to seek re-election in 2015. Otherwise, he
would be forced to step down due to term limits.
On 30 October 2014, the National Assembly was scheduled to debate an
amendment to the constitution that would have enabled Compaoré to stand for
re-election as president in 2015. Opponents protested this by storming the
parliament building in Ouagadougou, starting fires inside it and looting
offices. Billowing smoke was reported by the BBC to be coming from the
building. Opposition spokesman Pargui Emile Paré, of the People's Movement for
Socialism / Federal Party described the protests as "Burkina Faso’s black
spring, like the Arab spring".
Compaoré reacted to the events by shelving the proposed constitutional
changes, dissolving the government, declaring a state of emergency, and
offering to work with the opposition to resolve the crisis. Later in the day,
the military, under General Honore Traore, announced that it would install a
transitional government "in consultation with all parties" and that
the National Assembly was dissolved; he foresaw "a return to the
constitutional order" within a year. He did not make clear what role, if
any, he envisioned for Compaoré during the transitional period. Compaoré said
that he was prepared to leave office at the end of the transition.
On 31 October, Compaoré announced he had left the presidency and that
there was a "power vacuum". He also called for a "free and
transparent" election within 90 days. Presidential guard officer Yacouba
Isaac Zida then took over as head of state in an interim capacity. It was
reported that a heavily armed convoy believed to be carrying Compaoré was
traveling towards the southern town of Pô. However, it diverted before reaching
the town and he then fled to Ivory Coast]l with the support of President Alassane
Ouattara.
A week later, Jeune Afrique published an interview with Compaoré in
which he alleged that "part of the opposition was working with the
army" to plot his overthrow and that "history will tell us if they
were right." He added that he would "not wish for his worst enemy"
to be in Zida's place.
Sierra Leone Civil War
See also: Sierra Leone Civil War
Compaoré introduced Charles Taylor to his friend Muammar Gaddafi.
Compaoré also helped Taylor[clarification needed] in the early 1990s.
International and regional roles
Delegates of Ansar Dine and the MNLA in Ouagadougou, with Blaise
Compaoré (November 16, 2012)
In 1993, President Compaoré headed the Burkina-Faso delegation that
participated in the first Tokyo International Conference on African
Development.
Compaoré has been active as a mediator in regional issues. On 26 July
2006, he was designated as the mediator of the Inter-Togolese Dialogue, which
was held in Ouagadougou in August 2006 and resulted in an agreement between the
government and opposition parties. He has also acted as mediator in the crisis
in Ivory Coast, brokering the peace agreement signed by Ivorian President
Laurent Gbagbo and New Forces leader Guillaume Soro in Ouagadougou on 4 March
2007. In March 2012, he acted as a mediator in talks between representatives of
the Malian coup d'état and other regional leaders.
The BBC noted in 2014 that he was "the strongest ally to France
and the US in the region," and that "despite his own history of
backing rebels and fuelling civil wars in the West African neighbourhood ...
more importantly, he used his networks to help Western powers battling Islamist
militancy in the Sahel."
He served on the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber
Threats (IMPACT) International Advisory Board.
Political views
In an interview with the magazine Famille Chrétienne, President
Compaoré asserted that the notion of sexual abstinence was not a monopoly of
the Roman Catholic Church and that European non-governmental organizations that
disagreed with traditional morality were profiting from the situation to
intervene in regional African affairs.
