Burkina Faso Commences Presidential Elections Despite Jihadist Attacks

Burkina Faso has reportedly held the country's presidential elections despite threats of violence from Jihadist groups. According to EWN, Burkina Faso went ahead with planned elections on Sunday even though Jihadist threats meant more than a fifth of the country would not be able to vote. The elections have been riddled with weeks of attacks from the Islamic militant group. Additionally opposition parties have been vociferous about unseating current President Roch Marc Christian Kabore. According to Business Day news, Burkina Faso has been facing an unprecedented increase of al-Qaeda related attacks which have destablised the country.

Jihadist insurgence resulted in deaths of approximately 2500 and forced more than a million people to flee the country.BBC news reports that almost seven percent of the country was reportedly unable to register to vote because of recent Jihadist attacks. Despite this, Kabore's government signed in a new electoral code in August. The "extraordinary circumstances" code allowed for presidential and legislative elections to go ahead even if many polling stations cannot open. Opposition parties were dissatisfied by parliament invoking the new code and pledged an unofficial alliancealliance in efforts to unseat Karobe in the elections. The change to the electoral code benefits Kabore's party, which has strong support from voters in areas that aren't affected by the violence, including the capital, Ouagadougou.

For the first time citizens living outside of Burkina Faso are reportedly allowed to cast their votes. BBC reports that Ivory Coast alone has over 1.7 million potential Burkina Faso voters. President Kaboré cast his vote at a school in Ouagadougou and encouraged people to do the same. Kabore has been president since 2015 and served under former President Blaise Compaoré who was president for thirty years. Compaoré was ousted in 2014 and currently lives in exile.

According to Al Jazeera, the elections went smoothly on Sunday though some polling stations in the eastern region had to be closed because of threats. Jihadist crossing on from Mali entered Burkina Faso four years ago. 14 of Kabore's military soldiers were killed last week in a Jihadist ambush which ISIS later claimed responsibility for. Opposition parties have reportedly promised to host peace talks with the terror groups if voted into power. Kabore has reportedly refused this position and instead indicated increasing security and army forces.

Kabore is, expected to win the election run for a second presidential term. His main opposition are Zephirin Diabre, a former finance minister, and Eddie Komboigo, a candidate for the former ruling party. Results are expected to be in by the end of the week.