Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the interim president of Burkina Faso, has rejected the idea that democracy is essential for a country’s development, stating that no country has achieved progress through democratic governance.
Speaking during a flag-raising ceremony at the Koulouba Palace, Traoré argued that it is difficult to identify any nation whose development can be credited to democracy as a system of government.
He called it false to believe that democracy has been the driving force behind any country’s growth.
“We are not in a democracy, we are in a popular, progressive revolution,” Traoré said, emphasizing that Burkina Faso operates under what he described as a “revolutionary” system rather than a democratic one.
He further explained that democracy has no place in the country’s current governance structure.
“If we have to say it loud and clear here, we are not in a democracy, we are in a popular, progressive revolution,” he stated.
“We must necessarily go through a revolution, and we are indeed in a revolution. So this question of democracy or libertinism of action or expression has no place.”
“As much as you think you are free to speak and act, the other is also free to speak and act, and there we end up with a society of disorder.”
Traoré also argued that no country has ever achieved development through democracy, saying, “It is impossible to name a country that has developed in democracy. Democracy is only the result.”
Traoré, who came to power after the September 2022 coup that ousted interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, further asserted that Burkina Faso’s path to development lies in revolution, not democracy.
