Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Cpt. Ibrahim TRAORE
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Albert OEDRAOGO
• Assembly: Burkina Faso has a bicameral National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) consisting of the Senate (Sénat) with 89 seats and the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 127 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament.
• In the Senate (Sénat), 39 members are elected by regional governing councils, 21 members are indirectly elected by special interest groups and 39 members are filled by the President*. In the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) 127 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.**

* The Senate was created in May 2013.

** In the National Assembly, 111 members are elected by proportional representation in 45 multi-member constituencies having between 2 and 9 seats, and 16 members are elected by proportional representation in a nationwide constituency.