Roch Marc Christian Kaboré Confirmed As MPP Presidential Candidate For October 2015 Elections

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso, 6 July 2015 -- Roch Marc Christian Kaboré has been officially confirmed as the MPP (Mouvement du Peuple pour le Progrès)candidate in Burkina Faso’s presidential elections due to be held on 11 October this year.

The 58-year old former Prime Minister and President of the National assembly was selected by over 6,000 party delegates attending the MPP convention held at the Ouagadougou Palais des Sports on 4 and 5 July. This was followed by a swearing-in ceremony at the Municipal Stadium, attended by supporters, members and activists from Burkina Faso’s 45 states and as far as Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Mali, Niger, Belgium, the USA and France.

Addressing supporters, Mr. Kaboré said that he was the candidate for all Burkinabé and that he was “committed to nurturing the human capital by making the population’s well-being central to the MPP contract with the nation for the next five years”. He also said that he was committed to boosting the country’s productive sectors and employment, which would benefit from an intensive and innovative focus, and that he intended promoting sub-regional and African economic integration. “In this spirit, I will do my utmost to create the conditions for strong involvement by the Burkinabé diaspora in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the country,” he announced.

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré founded the MPP in January 2014, along with Salif Diallo and Simon Compaoré, after they broke away from the CDP when President Blaise Campaoré was set to change the constitution in an attempt to cling to power. As an opposition party, the MPP played a key role in the change resulting from the civil uprising on the 30 and 31 October last year. Now MPP leaders are calling upon the Burkinabé to validate this change at the polls in October.

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré began his career as a banker. In 1984, at the age of 27, he became CEO of the Banque Internationale du Burkina, the country’s second largest bank. In 1989, Blaise Campaoré made him Minister of Transport. He became a Member of Parliament in 1992 and was Minister of Finance, then Minister of Institutional Relations until 1994, when he became Prime Minister. During his term, he led the principal actions in stabilising IMF supported programmes underway since 1991 and was implemental in shifting the country towards performance-based budget support aid. This strategy enabled the government to finance its flagship programmes and reforms.

Yet, having ridden out the 1994 devaluation of the CFA franc, Mr. Kaboré was appointed Special Advisor to the Presidency in February 1996. He became First Vice-President of the National Assembly in 1997 and, in June 2002, replaced Mélégué Maurice Traoré as President of the National Assembly. He was re-elected in 2007 and remained President until 2012, during which time he was greatly appreciated for his openness and willingness to listen, always giving each party the space to express themselves.

Burkina Faso’s presidential and parliamentary elections on 11 October will be a milestone in the country’s political transformation, since they will end the year-long interim government instated after the fall of Blaise Campaoré and open a new chapter in the democratic history of the country.