In a striking declaration aired on Thursday, April 2, via Burkina Faso’s national broadcaster, RTB, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, head of the ruling military junta, explicitly instructed the Burkinabe populace to set aside any notions of democracy.

“Democracy is not for us,” Traoré asserted without reservation, addressing a gathering of both domestic and international journalists, including representatives from Italy’s public television Rai and the UK’s Sky News.

Electoral prospects definitively shelved

The young leader, who seized power in a September 2022 coup, has effectively quashed all immediate or medium-term hopes for elections. “We are not even discussing elections first. People must forget the question of democracy,” he stated.

These remarks follow closely on the heels of the adoption of a new ‘Charter of the Revolution’ in late March 2026. This foundational document extends the junta’s mandate for an additional five years, commencing from July 2024, and explicitly grants Ibrahim Traoré the right to stand as a candidate in any forthcoming presidential, legislative, and municipal elections.

The end of democratic pretense

The transitional period, initially promised after the first coup in January 2022 and slated to conclude in July 2024, has now become a distant memory. Key democratic institutions have been systematically dismantled: the Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni) was dissolved in October 2025, and all political parties were outright banned in February 2026.

A regime embracing its authoritarian turn

“We are not in a democracy,” Traoré had previously declared last year. On Thursday evening, he reiterated this stance with an unvarnished confidence, positioning his ‘Revolution’ above any democratic considerations.

During an interview lasting over two hours, the Captain confirmed what many observers had long suspected: Burkina Faso has transitioned from a military-led interim government to an openly acknowledged dictatorship.

The fate of his predecessor

Ibrahim Traoré also touched upon the situation of his predecessor, former Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who was recently extradited from Togo. Accused of corruption and involvement in attempted coups, Damiba is now “in the hands of justice,” according to the junta leader.

Controversy over security record

Burkina Faso has been entangled in a decade-long spiral of jihadist violence, resulting in thousands of fatalities and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. Despite this, the junta chief vehemently rejected accusations documented by several international NGOs, which detail alleged abuses committed by the Burkinabe army and the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) against civilians. Traoré simply countered that “there is no proof.”

Alignment with Russia and media suppression

On the international front, Traoré reaffirmed the nation’s alliance with Russia, a supplier of military equipment, while simultaneously denying the presence of foreign instructors within the country. Domestically, since his ascent to power, the regime has consistently curtailed press freedom, suspending or banning numerous international media outlets and expelling journalists.

Burkina Faso’s slide into authoritarianism

By openly urging his people to forsake democratic aspirations, Ibrahim Traoré has shed any semblance of democratic commitment. He now unreservedly pursues the establishment of a lasting military regime, where political rights and fundamental freedoms are sacrificed in the name of a ‘revolution’ whose tangible results, both in security and economic terms, have yet to convince.

Burkina Faso, once viewed as a beacon of democratic hope in the region, continues its deepening descent into authoritarianism.