At stake in this election:       

• The 127 seats in the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Interim President Michel KAFANDO (since 18 November 2014)*
• Head of Government: Interim Prime Minister Lt Col Yacouba Isaac ZIDA (since 19 November 2014)*
• Assembly: Burkina Faso has a National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 127 seats.

*Both the Interim President and Interim Prime Minister came to power shortly after a period of political unrest following the resignation of former President Blaise COMPAORE on 31 October 2014 and again after a short-lived coup in September 2015. More information about the transition can be found here.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament.
• In the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) 127 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.**

 

**In the National Assembly, 111 members are elected by proportional representation in 45 multi-member constituencies having between 2 and 9 seats, and 16 members are elected by proportional representation in a nationwide constituency.

Main parties in the electoral race[1]:

NOTE: A full list of parties running in the 2015 elections can be found here. A full list of candidates can be found here.

• Party: African Democratic Rally-Alliance for Democracy and Federation / Alliance pour la Démocratie et la Féderation – Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (ADF-RDA)
  • Leader: Gilbert OUEDRAOGO
  • Seats won in last election: 18
• Party: Congress for Democracy and Progress / Congrès pour la Démocratie et le Progrès (CDP)
  • Leader: Assimi KOUANDA
  • Seats won in last election: 70
• Party: Party for Democracy and Progress-Socialist Party / Parti pour la Démocratie et le Socialisme (PDP-PS)
  • Leader: Francois O. KABORE
  • Seats won in last election: 2
• Party: Union for Progress and Change / Union pour la Progrès et le Changement (UPC)
  • Leader: Zephirin DIABRE
  • Seats won in last election: 19
• Party: Union for the Republic / Union pour la République (UPR)
  • Leader: Toussaint Abel COULIBALY
  • Seats won in last election: 5

Last election:

• The last election for the legislature was held on 2 December 2012.  Turnout was 76%, with 4,365,153 registered voters, of whom 3,315,795 cast votes. The ADF-RDA Party won 18 seats (of 127); the CDP Party won 70 seats; and the UPC Party won 19 seats. Full results can be found here.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 18,931,686 (2015 est.)[2]
• Registered voters: 5,517,015 (2015)[3]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 9,465,843 (2015 est.)[4]
• Is Burkina Faso a signatory to CEDAW: N/A[5]
• Has Burkina Faso ratified CEDAW: Yes (14 October 1987)[6]
• Gender Quota:  Yes[7]
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators: 20 (16%) of 127 seats in the National Assembly[8]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 181[9]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: High[10]

Disability Data:

• Is Burkina Faso a signatory to CRPD: Yes (23 May 2007) [11]
• Has Burkina Faso ratified CRPD: Yes (23 July 2009)[12]
• Population with a disability: 2,839,753[13]

 

 

[1]  http://www.ceni.bf/sites/default/files/Legislatives2015/liste_parti_groupement.pdf   

[2] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uv.html

[3]  CENI Fichier Electorale Chiffres

[4] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uv.html

[5] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&lang=en

[6] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&lang=en

[7] http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/countryview.cfm?country=22

[8] http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/countryview.cfm?country=22

[9] http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-1-human-development-index-and-its-components

[10] http://genderindex.org/countries

[11] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=iv-15&chapter=4&lang=en

[12] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=iv-15&chapter=4&lang=en

[13] http://www.electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/bf/all/