(4 minutes read)
· In Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, voting was in full swing yesterday and people were queuing up from the morning when the voting started
· The voting is taking place in the midst of an insurgency that has killed thousands. Many had fled the country to safer locations in the neighboring states
· Kabore, is widely expected to win a second term
· The opposition parties in Burkina Faso had alleged that the ruling party was making efforts to rig the election and said that they would not recognize the poll results
· According to them, efforts are underway by the ruling party to carry out massive fraud and to cover it up for legitimizing the election
Burkina Faso has gone to the polls. People are voting in presidential and parliamentary elections. The citizens have an overriding concern about the safety and security as to how the poll will be playing out.
In Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, voting was in full swing yesterday and people were queuing up from the morning when the voting started. The number of eligible voters is pegged at 6.5 million. Reports coming from the country suggest that polls were canceled in about 1,500 villages due to violence and intra-party fighting. There are 13 candidates in the fray for the presidential election. The frontrunners are incumbent president Roch Marc Christian Kabore and veteran politician Zephirin Diabre.
The voting is taking place in the midst of an insurgency that has killed thousands. Many had fled the country to safer locations in the neighboring states. Kabore, is widely expected to win a second term. He has showcased his achievements in building infrastructure, extending piped water etc as the trump cards for the next term. However, there are a number of people who feel that he could not make much headway in reining in insurgency.
The opposition parties in Burkina Faso had alleged that the ruling party was making efforts to rig the election and said that they would not recognize the poll results. According to them, efforts are underway by the ruling party to carry out massive fraud and to cover it up for legitimizing the election. Kabore to retain the power has to win more than 50 percent of the vote in Sunday’s first round – as he did in the last election in 2015. He is rolling out ambitious electoral [promises. But the opposition claimed that if the elections were held in a free and fair manner, Kabore would not be able to retain the seat. Political analysts however, say, while Kabore may be the winner finally, it has to be seen whether he could make it in the first round.
