Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Faso’s interim leader, has dismissed the notion that democracy is a prerequisite to development.
Traoré said it is difficult to pinpoint a country whose development is attributable to democracy as a system of government.
According to him, it is false to believe any country has developed under a democratic system.
The military leader said this recently during a flag-raising ceremony at the Koulouba Palace.
He clarified that Burkina Faso practices what he called “a popular, progressive revolution,” adding that democracy has no place in his country.
“If we have to say it loud and clear here, we are not in a democracy, we are in a popular, progressive revolution.
“We must necessarily go through a revolution, and we are indeed in a revolution. So this question of democracy or libertinism of action or expression has no place. As much as you think you are free to speak and act, the other is also free to speak and act, and there we end up with a society of disorder.”
“It is impossible to name a country that has developed in democracy. Democracy is only the result,” Traoré said.
The 37-year-old military officer emerged as Burkina Faso’s interim leader following the September 2022 coup d’état that ousted interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
