After four hours after the start of the launching of the transitional charter where nominees would be taken to be voted for the new transitional leader of the country, no one volunteered.
Reports reaching DNT indicate that on three occasions, the MC at the conference announced that nominations are open and that anyone interested in leading the transitional government can volunteer or be nominated. But thus far, no one has stepped forward.
The charter allows for up to the end of Saturday for a new leader to be voted on to lead Burkina Faso through the transitional process, and for that leader to be named on Sunday. But no one has stepped up.
There may be a few reasons for this perplexing situation.
First, reports indicate that as high as 90% of the conferees believe Captain Ibrahim Traore should remain at the helm of affairs in the country until the next election some 14 months out.
Secondly, the demonstrators also calling for Traore to remain appears to echo the sentiments of the general population possibly because they do not trust the intentions of whoever would lead the transitional process. And no one wants to step into leadership already devoid of the people’s support.
This is against the backdrop that Captain Traore has made his intentions known that his place is in the barracks and not at the presidential palace. Thus the people trust that he would lead a transparent transition and hand over power after a new leader has been elected.
Then there is the speculation that the young Captain, who is not even at the launching of the transitional charter, is pulling strings behind the scenes and has created fear among possible contestants for the prize of transitional leader. But his youthfulness and transparent intentions make this unlikely.
Finally, it is possible that those with the requisite qualification to lead the country prefer to bid their time and announce their candidacy for the real job because the transitional leader cannot run for president.
Whichever of these scenarios is the true reflection of what is happening, they all lead to the high likelihood that on Sunday, Captain Ibrahim Traore would remain at the helm of affairs to lead Burkina Faso into the transition to civilian rule.