Maurice Yaméogo, a close ally of the Ivorian President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, created a single-party dictatorship, making his own Voltaic Democratic Union the sole legal political party in the country.

Additionally, Yaméogo closely supported Israel, becoming the first African leader to visit the country, strongly opposing the Arab Republic of Egypt and Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The parliamentary election the following day officially saw a 100% support and 97.4% turnout in favour of the Voltaic Democratic Union,[3] but in fact mass abstention in protest against the President and his party took place.

[1] On 30 December, following increased economic troubles, the government announced a new austerity budget, massively cutting the salaries of public sector employees and raising taxes.

The following day, Denis Yaméogo – Minister of the Interior and Security, and the President's half-brother – used heavy-handed force to break up a meeting of the national labour leadership.

The state of emergency and troop deployments backfired on the government – the rank and file soldiers refused to shoot protesters.

A Consultative Committee was also formed, with 46 members representing the military, political parties, trade unions, religious leaders, and traditional authorities.

While the country would move diplomatically towards the Arab states such as Egypt, Algeria and Saudi Arabia, and away from Israel, this did not indicate a break in relations with the West, or that the government had a sectarian character.