(Bloomberg) — Burkina Faso’s military leader, who took power after a coup earlier this year, appointed a government almost entirely made up of technocrats that excluded members of political parties.
Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who was sworn in as interim president on Tuesday after signing off on a plan to restore democracy within three years, named Seglaro Abel Some as finance minister in the 25-member cabinet. Long-time mining official Jean Alphonse Some was given the portfolio of mining while General Barthelemy Simpore retained the defense minister post that he held under ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
Burkina Faso became the third West African country to succumb to a coup in the past year after the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Safeguarding, led by Damiba, accused Kabore of failing to tackle a worsening Islamist insurgency.
Members of political parties were excluded from the interim government, according to the transition charter adopted this week. The charter also states that neither Damiba or Prime Minister Albert Ouedraogo can run in elections set to restore constitutional order.
The Economic Community of West African States, which condemned the Jan. 24 ouster of Kabore, canceled a visit to Burkina Faso after the charter was adopted.
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