Burkina Faso military leader Traore says ‘forget democracy’

Traore reneged on promises to hold elections and has since scrapped political parties in the country.Burkina Faso’s military leader, Ibrahim Traore, says that people need to “forget” about democracy, just three months after his government dissolved all political parties in the West African nation.Speaking to journalists in a lengthy interview on state television on Thursday, Traore referenced Libya as an example of a country where he said outsiders attempted to “impose democracy” but failed.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Moscow confirms Russian forces helped repel ISIL attack on Niger airportlist 2 of 4Are ‘low-cost, high-impact’ drones making Sahel fighters tougher to beat?list 3 of 4US deploys 100 soldiers to Nigeria as attacks by armed groups surgelist 4 of 4‘Sahel is no longer fooled’ Niger civil society leaderend of list“People need to forget about the issue of democracy,” he said. “We have to tell the truth: democracy isn’t for us.”“Democracy kills”, Traore said, according to French broadcaster RFI.“Look at Libya, it’s a prime example right next to us! Everywhere they try to establish democracy in the world, it’s done with bloodshed … Democracy is slavery…”It’s the latest sign of Traore’s government distancing itself from the initial promises it made to set the country back on a democratic path.Traore seized power in September 2022, eight months after an earlier military coup he was involved in overthrew the democratically elected government of President Roch Marc Kabore.The military governments promised to battle al-Qaeda and ISIL-linked armed groups that have swarmed the country and now control large areas of territory. However, the country has continued to come under repeated attacks and hundreds of thousands of civilians are displaced.Traore, who has gained widespread admiration from the African diaspora for his anti-Western rhetoric, initially promised to organise elections in 2024. A year later, the leader reneged and said elections would not be held until all parts of Burkina Faso are safe for voting.