{{Tens of thousands of people packed into a stadium in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou on Saturday to voice their opposition to a referendum that would lift presidential term limits and allow the country’s leader to seek re-election next year.}}<\/p>\n
The rally in the 45,000-seat Stade du 4 Aout was a response to a demonstration last month by President Blaise Compaore’s supporters who backed the referendum. <\/p>\n
“We don’t want unlimited presidential mandates because Burkina Faso is not a kingdom where one dies in power,” opposition leader Zephirin Diabre told the crowd. “It is a republic where men move on and the institutions remain.”<\/p>\n
Compaore, who has held power since leading a coup in 1987, has positioned himself as a power broker in West Africa and a key ally of France and the United States in the fight against al Qaeda-linked Islamists in the Sahara-Sahel band.<\/p>\n
While he has not yet formally announced his plans, last month’s rally was the clearest indication yet that he wishes to change the constitution.<\/p>\n
The referendum would ask voters to approve changes to Article 37 of the constitution, which was drafted in 2000 and limits presidents to two terms. Compaore secured his second five-year mandate in 2010.<\/p>\n
“We must dissuade President Blaise Compaore and his supporters from organising the referendum. But if they persist, we will move into another phase,” said Diabre, who heads a grouping of 36 opposition parties.<\/p>\n
“We will use all means allowed under the law to make them fail miserably,” he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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