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Sunday 29 Nov 2015 - 15:26 Makkah mean time-17-2-1437
Pic: Reuters
Ouagadougou (IINA) – Voters in Burkina Faso headed for the polls on Sunday to elect a new president and parliament to replace a transitional government that was put in place after longtime President Blaise Compaore was ousted in a popular uprising in October 2014, triggered by his bid to scrap constitutional term limits and stay in office, news agencies reported.
Compaore resigned and fled the country, ending his 27-year rule. However, the Burkina Faso faced more political uncertainty in September this year when Compaore's elite presidential guard tried to topple the transitional government shortly before a presidential election scheduled for November 11.
Fourteen candidates are taking part in the race for the presidency. Members of Compaore's Congress for Democracy and Progress party (CDP) and those who backed his unconstitutional bid for a third term have been banned from standing.
With no incumbent on the ballot and the presidential guard now dissolved, candidates and analysts say the vote will be the most open and democratic in the country's history.
Burkina Faso's election committee has said it will publish preliminary results as early as Monday. If no presidential candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff will be held 15 days after results from the first round are finalized.
The poll is taking place amid high security, with between 20,000 and 25,000 troops deployed to ward off the threat of an extremist attack. More than 17,000 local and international monitors are in the country to watch over the legitimacy of the election.
AB/IINA
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