Vote counting gets underway in Burkina Faso national elections
China Daily
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Electoral workers count the ballots at a polling station following the presidential and legislative election in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Nov 22, 2020. (Photo: Agencies)

Vote counting is underway in Burkina Faso after voters went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president and members of parliament. So far, reports indicate that voting went on peacefully across the country as people cast their ballots in a historic poll aimed at consolidating democracy in the West African nation.

Roch Marc Christian Kabore, Burkina Faso's president, is hoping to beat 12 other candidates to clinch another five years in power. After casting his vote in Ouagadougou, the country's capital, Kabore invited his countrymen to turn out in large numbers and vote massively to strengthen the democratic maturity of the country.

"The vote that the Burkinabe people are taking on today is the culmination of a long process. I would like to salute the enormous work done by the National Independent Electoral Commission and all those involved in the electoral administration," Kabore said. "I call on all Burkinabe to vote, whatever their leaning. It's about the democracy of Burkina Faso, it's about development and it is about peace."

Kabore's main challenger is Zephirin Diabre of the Progress and Change Party. He is a veteran opposition leader and 2015's runner-up in the presidential race. Eddie Komboigo is the candidate for Congress for Democracy and Progress Party, the party of former president Blaise Compaore, who was overthrown by a popular uprising in 2014 after 27 years in power.

Speaking after casting his vote, Diabre warned against what he called a huge operation orchestrated by those in power to carry out a massive fraud to give Kabore a first-round victory. He added that the opposition will not accept results marred by irregularity. The winner will require to win 51 percent of the cast vote in order to avoid a second round of elections.

Among the teams that have sent observer missions to the elections are the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS. According to Kabine Komara, former prime minister of Guinea and head of the Electoral Observation Mission deployed by ECOWAS, his delegation on Sunday crisscrossed Ouagadougou and visited several centers and stations of voting to ascertain the effective start of operations.

"I appreciate the calm and peaceful climate that reigned both during the electoral campaign, which preceded the election, and during the day today. I call on the Burkinabe to persevere in this direction and to leave to the competent authority, the National Independent Electoral Commission, the task of leading the operations," Komara said.

"I call on all the stakeholders to respect the results that will emerge from the ballot as proclaimed by the National Independent Electoral Commission in accordance with the law, while urging them to show restraint, to favor the search for consensus and to only resort to legal channels only in the event of a dispute," he added.

The electoral commission is working with more than 25,000 security personnel across the country. The commission said it intends to announce the results in the coming few days.