At stake in this election:       

• The office of President of Burkina Faso

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Interim President Michel KAFANDO (since 18 November 2014)*
• Head of Government: Interim Prime Minister Lt Col Yacouba Isaac ZIDA (since 19 November 2014)*
• Assembly: Burkina Faso has a National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 127 seats.

*Both the Interim President and Interim Prime Minister came to power shortly after a period of political unrest following the resignation of former President Blaise COMPAORE on 31 October 2014 and again after a short-lived coup in September 2015. More information about the transition can be found here.

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 National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) 127 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.**

**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.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Candidate: Ram OUÉDRAOGO
  • Party: Rally of the Ecologists of Burkina / Rassemblement des Écologistes du Bruina (RDEBF)
• Candidate: Alblassé OUÉDRAOGO
  • Party: Faso Autrement
• Candidate: Zéphirin DIABRÉ
  • Party: Union for Progress and Change / Union pour le Progrès et le Changement (UPC)
• Candidate: Victorien TOUGOUMA
  • Party: African People’s Movement / Mouvement Africain des Peuples (MAP)
• Candidate: Tahirou BARRY
  • Party: National Rebirth Party / Parti de la Renaissance Nationale (PAREN)
• Candidate: Roch Marc Christian KABORÉ
  • Party: People’s Movement for Progress / Mouvement du Peuple pour le Progrès (MPP)
• Candidate: Jean-Baptiste NATAMA
  • Party: Independent
• Candidate: Saran SÉRÉMÉ
  • Party: Party for Development and Change / Parti pour le Développement et le Changement (PDC)
• Candidate: François TOÉ
  • Party: Independent
• Candidate: Issaka ZAMPALIGRÉ
  • Party: Independent
• Candidate: Adama KANAZOÉ
  • Party: Youth Alliance for Independence and the Republic / Alliance des Jenues pour l’Indépendance et la République (AJIR)
• Candidate: Bénéwendé S. SANKARA
  • Party: Union for Rebirth – Sankarist Movement / Union pour la Renaissance – Mouvement Sankariste (UNIR/PS)
• Candidate: Boukaré OUÉDRAOGO
  • Party: Independent
• Candidate: Salvador YAMÉOGO
  • Party: Rally of Democrats for the Faso / Rassemblement des Démocrates pour le Faso (RDF)

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 18,931,686 (2015 est.)[1]
• Registered voters: 5,517,015 (2015)[2]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 9,465,843 (2015 est.)[3]
• Is Burkina Faso a signatory to CEDAW: N/A[4]
• Has Burkina Faso ratified CEDAW: Yes (14 October 1987)[5]
• Gender Quota:  Yes[6]
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators: 20 (16%) of 127 seats in the National Assembly[7]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 181[8]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: High[9]

Disability Data:

• Is Burkina Faso a signatory to CRPD: Yes (23 May 2007) [10]
• Has Burkina Faso ratified CRPD: Yes (23 July 2009)[11]
• Population with a disability: 2,839,753[12]

[1] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uv.html

[2] CENI Fichier Electorale Chiffres

[3] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uv.html

[4] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&lang=en

[5] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&lang=en

[6] http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/countryview.cfm?country=22

[7] http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/countryview.cfm?country=22

[8] http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/table-1-human-development-index-and-its-components

[9] http://genderindex.org/countries

[10] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=iv-15&chapter=4&lang=en

[11] https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=iv-15&chapter=4&lang=en

[12] http://www.electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/bf/all/