Africa
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President Macky Sall has been appointed by leaders of the Economic Community of West African States to chair the Contact Group on Burkina Faso
THE leaders of the Economic Community of West Africa States have ECOWAS, ended their extraordinary session in Accra on Thursday, November 6, naming Senegalese President Macky Sall as chair of a regional Contact Group on Burkina Faso. The group is to facilitate the political transition process in Burkina Faso, where the military has seized power following the resignation of President Blaise Compaoré on October 31. The Contact Group will be supported by President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, chairman of the Authority of ECOWAS heads of state and government, the summit final Communiqué said.
Kadré Desire Ouédraogo, president of the ECOWAS Commission, was also directed to appoint a special envoy to facilitate the process of dialogue among stakeholders in Burkina Faso.
The summit welcomed the positive initiative by the ECOWAS chairman and his peers, Presidents Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and Macky Sall of Senegal, who have undertaken a joint visit to Burkina Faso as part regional efforts at finding a peaceful solution to the situation in that country.
The ECOWAS leaders also commended the excellent work done by the joint UN-AU-ECOWAS Assessment Mission to Burkina Faso and encouraged the three organisations to continue to pursue their coordination efforts towards ensuring a successful transition.
“The Heads of State and Government restate their commitment to the preservation of the democratic institutions, and the constitutional convergence and democratic election principles enshrined in the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (2001),” the communiqué added.
Consequently, the summit endorsed the Agreement reached by the Burkinabe national stakeholders, particularly with regard to immediate lift of the suspension of the Constitution to enable the Constitutional Court to declare power vacancy and facilitate the establishment of a transitional government.
Other measures are the “urgent designation of a suitable eminent civilian person to lead the transition; initiate an all-inclusive consultation among political party leaders, representatives of civil society organizations, religious and traditional leaders as well as the military, to work out the composition of the transitional government; and to secure all Burkinabe, including political party leaders, members of Parliament and National Assembly, and protect human rights and property.”
— Nov. 17, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
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