Burkina Faso President Roch Kabore Resigns After Coup

Shortly before midnight on Monday, Roch Kabore resigned from the presidency of Burkina Faso through a letter addressed to Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henry Sandaogo Damiba, who led the coup d’état carried out on Sunday.

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"In the interest of the nation, after the events that have occurred since yesterday, I have decided to resign from my functions as President of Burkina Faso, Head of Government, and Supreme Commander of the National Armed Forces," Kabore wrote in a letter that was released after the military confirmed the coup, the dissolution of the government and Parliament, and the suspension of the Constitution.

The decision to topple Kabore was taken "with the sole objective of allowing our country to return to the right path and gather all its forces to fight for its territorial integrity... and its sovereignty," said a spokesman for the Patriotic Movement for the Safeguarding and the Restoration (MPSR), which the military created to carry out their assault against the constitutional order.

"In the face of the continuous deterioration of the security situation that threatens the foundations of our nation, the manifest inability of the power of Roch Kabore to unite the Burkinabe to deal with the situation effectively, and following the aspirations of different social strata of the nation, the MPSR has decided to assume its responsibilities before history," the spokesman added.

The coup plotters also announced the closure of air and land borders and the establishment of a curfew from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time throughout the national territory. These measures will remain in force "until further order".

They assured that they took power "without bloodshed and without any type of physical violence on the detained persons, who are in a safe place and being respected in their dignity."

The MPSR undertook to propose a "timetable" for the return to constitutional order "within a reasonable period of time and after consultation with the active forces of the nation."