** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **
Yes, Salifou
But two wrongs will never make a right. We cannot continue to gloss
over our own shortcomings by looking back at what the NORTH is doing.
The North is not a model of morality at all! Correct me if I am wrong.
PETER W.VAKUNTA
DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON
602 VAN HISE HALL
1220 LINDEN DRIVE
MADISON WI 53706-1525
U.S.A
Office 608 262 4067
Home 608 422 6089
Cell 608 381 0407
"The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of the wise man is
in his heart."
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
----- Original Message -----
From: salifou issoufou <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, September 22, 2005 12:27 pm
Subject: Re: VAMPIRIC COMPAORE CLINGS TO POWER!
> Peter, it happens in north of the Sahara too.
>
> Salifou
>
> PETER W VAKUNTA <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> ** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **
>
> I am just wondering: when shall African leaders stop treating
> their own
> constitutions like pieces of toilet paper? It's so shameful what's
> going on south of the Sahara!
>
> PETER W.VAKUNTA
> DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN
> UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON
> 602 VAN HISE HALL
> 1220 LINDEN DRIVE
> MADISON WI 53706-1525
> U.S.A
> Office 608 262 4067
> Home 608 422 6089
> Cell 608 381 0407
>
> "The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of the wise
> man is
> in his heart."
> BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: PETER W VAKUNTA
> Date: Thursday, September 22, 2005 10:25 am
> Subject: VAMPIRIC COMPAORE CLINGS TO POWER!
>
> > ** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **
> >
> > Compaore for ever
> >
> > 23/08/05, Martin Luther King
> >
> >
> > In Burkina Faso, democracy appears to have acquired a new meaning.
> > Instead of "government by the people, of the people and for the
> > people," critics say it is now "government for Blaise Compaore
> and by
> > Compaore." The critics levelled the accusation after the long-
> serving> President Compaore announced that he will stand again in
> elections> scheduled for November 13. He personally announced his
> intention> in his
> > hometown of Ziniare, 35 km from the capital, Ouagadougou. But the
> > opposition says the move is unconstitutional.
> >
> > Compaore, a former army captain, seized power in a bloody coup in
> > 1987.Trading his military fatigues for civilian dress, he went on
> > to win two
> > landslide elections in 1991 and 1998 that were boycotted by the main
> > opposition parties, who complained that the electoral system was
> > opaqueand unfair.
> >
> > "The most important issue is to win over the public and reassure
> them> that we can ensure the continued progress of Burkina Faso,"
> Compaore> said in comments broadcast on Radio France Internationale.
> >
> > At the heart of the row over Compaore's candidacy is whether a
> recent> amendment to the west African nation's constitution should
> be applied
> > retroactively. In April 2000, parliament voted to reduce the
> > presidential term from seven years to five and to allow a leader
> > to be
> > re-elected only once.
> >
> > That, says the opposition, means that Compaore, who has already
> served> two seven-year terms, should not be allowed to bid for a
> third.>
> > "Compaore will be completing his second term in November... and
> > will be
> > violating the constitution if he stays on," said Benewende
> > Sankara, the
> > leader of the opposition Union for Renewal party, who is
> planning to
> > stand in the presidential poll himself.
> >
> > "Compaore's candidacy is improper not only in legal terms... it's
> > improper because after 18 years of his rule Burkina Faso is one
> of the
> > poorest countries on the planet even though there's no war and
> > politically things are stable," Sankara stated.
> >
> > The UN Human Development Index ranks Burkina Faso as the third
> poorest> nation in the world, with an estimated 80 percent of its
> 13 million
> > people living on less than US $2 a day.
> >
> > Hermann Yameogo-son of Burkina Faso's first post-independence
> > president, the leader of the National Union for Democracy and
> > Development and another opposition candidate in November's
> > election-is
> > also incensed but not surprised. "This regime has never bothered
> > itselfwith respecting the laws of this country," he alleged.
> >
> > However, the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), which
> > selected Compaore as its candidate in June, says the opposition
> > has got
> > its legal and moral arguments wrong.
> >
> > "Legally, President Compaore can be a candidate," said Salif Diallo,
> > the director of Compaore's campaign and the current Agriculture
> > minister. A constitutional revision brings a new constitution
> with it
> > and the old formula no longer holds. We in the CDP believe that
> there> is a need for a prolonged stability for the political body
> so as to
> > strengthen democracy. The president's positive results lead us to
> > endorse his candidacy... Today human rights and economic growth are
> > realities."
> >
> > Political stability followed Compaore's military coup which was the
> > fifth since independence from France in 1960. And Compaore at one
> > pointwas free to rule for life. In 1997, the president's party
> > amended the
> > constitution, removing all restrictions on the number of times
> someone> could stand for re-election.
> >
> > However the social unrest that erupted in the wake of the so-called
> > Zongo Affair in 1998 meant that the change was short-lived. The
> Zongo> Affair was named for Norbert Zongo, the journalist and
> government> critic, who was assassinated while investigating the
> death of a driver
> > employed by Compaore's brother.
> >
> > Zongo's murder-which was later linked to the government by an
> > independent, internationally-backed inquiry-prompted a series of
> > massive strikes and public demonstrations, as Burkinabes railed
> about> the lack of freedom of speech and the suppression of political
> > opposition. The reforms that were brought in to appease the public
> > included re-establishing presidential term limits.
> >
> > Aside from the issue of whether the 2000 constitutional amendment
> > should be applied retroactively, the opposition groups are also
> > unhappyabout changes to Burkina Faso's electoral code, passed last
> > year. The
> > country's electoral unit changed from the region-of which there
> > are 15-
> > to the province, of which there are 45. The opposition says that
> this> gives the government an unfair advantage as it will be
> impossible for
> > them to field candidates and polling observers in all of the new
> > zones.
> > They also allege that fraud has occurred as voter registers have
> been> computerised, with some people's records going on file several
> > times. "All these manoeuvres do not suggest transparent
> elections in
> > November," Sankara said.
> >
> > But the government refutes these claims. Diallo, Compaore's campaign
> > manager, declared: "Nobody can accuse us of not creating the
> > conditionsfor transparent elections. We have always strived for
> > fair elections."
> >
> > Analysts reckon that Compaore should triumph in the November poll.
> > Apart from the incumbency factor, the lack of unity among the many
> > opposition parties is also likely to split their vote. There are
> > so far
> > 15 opposition candidates vying for the presidency and even
> Alternance> 2005, which is supposed to be an umbrella group of several
> > parties, has
> > seen more than one nomination emerge from its fold.
> >
> > As London-based researchers Global Insight said in a recent briefing
> > note: "With the state apparatus at his command and the vast
> > majority of
> > Burkinabes having no pressing problems with his current
> dispensation,> the President is, of course, the favourite candidate."
> >
> > September 2005
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > PETER W.VAKUNTA
> > DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN
> > UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON
> > 602 VAN HISE HALL
> > 1220 LINDEN DRIVE
> > MADISON WI 53706-1525
> > U.S.A
> > Office 608 262 4067
> > Home 608 422 6089
> > Cell 608 381 0407
> >
> > "The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of the wise
> > man is
> > in his heart."
> > BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
> >
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