Black Spring: Protests for elections in Burkina Faso
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People started protesting violently in Burkina Faso in the last week of October, 2014. The outrage and anger was directed at the attempt of the government to amend the constitution of Burkina Faso to allow President Blaise Compaore to seek reelection next year, even after he has held this office for 27 years. President Compaore has now been ousted; he has been winning elections all these years in spite of the lowest turnout of voters which was below 10% in 2010. In 1987 he ousted the socialist leader Thomas Sankara and set up his government by military coup. Sankara was a hero for the people and a revolutionary leader who in his short tenure as leader of the country had slashed pay to ministers and introduced food subsidies for people.
Several days of protest in Burkina Faso have led to the resignation of President Compaore. Large protests also erupted in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina’s second biggest town, and Ouahigouya, in the north. The protests turned violent on Thursday (28th Oct, 2014) and the people stormed Parliament and set it on fire; they also entered Burkina Faso's state television stations and ransacked them.