Blaise Compaoré

Blaise Compaoré (born February 3, 1951) has been the president of Burkina Faso since 1987. He is the founder of the ruling political party, the Congress for Democracy and Progress.

Biography

Compaoré was born in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, named at that time Upper Volta. He reached the rank of Captain in the Voltaïc army, and served as Minister of Justice during Thomas Sankara's presidency. Compaoré met Sankara in 1976 in a military training center in Morocco, and since then Compaoré and Sankara were supposed to be close friends. Compaoré played a major role in the coups d'état against Saye Zerbo and Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo.

He became president of his country on October 15, 1987 in a bloody coup that killed Sankara, his predecessor as president. Compaoré described the killing of Sankara as an "accident", however this claim is widely disputed. Upon taking the presidency, he reverted many of the policies of Sankara, claiming that his policy was a "rectification" of the Burkinabé revolution.

Soon after he became President he also eliminated two major revolutionary leaders, Henri Zongo and Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani, accused of plotting against the regime.

The accession of Compaoré to the Presidency of the Faso gave the country a political stability it had previously lacked. Compaoré gave Burkina Faso democratic institutions and increased freedom of the press. However, President Compaoré and his Presidential Guard have been implicated in the death of reporter Norbert Zongo and continued intimidation of the media in Burkina Faso, according to the international organization Reporters Without Borders.

Compaoré was also sued for assassination by Mariam Sankara, Thomas Sankara's widow. He has proposed a "National Reconciliation" that is not widely supported by his opposition.

Compaoré was elected president in 1991. In 1998 he was re-elected for the first time. In August 2005, he announced his intention to contest the next presidential election. Opposition politicians regard his 2005 re-election bid as unconstitutional due to a constitutional amendment in 2000 limiting a president to two terms, and reducing term lengths from seven to five years, thus baring Compaoré from seeking a third term. Compaoré's supporters dispute this, saying that the amendment cannot be applied retroactively. ^* Notwithstanding opposition objections, in October 2005 the constitutional council ruled that because Compaoré was a sitting president in 2000, the amendment would not apply until the end of his second term in office, thereby allowing him to present his candidacy for the 2005 election.

On November 13, 2005, Compaoré was re-elected president, defeating 12 opponents and winning 80.35% of the vote.

He has been married to Chantal Compaoré (nee Chantal Terrasson) since 1985.

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1951 births | Burkinabé politicians | Current national leaders | Living people

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Biography

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