Opposition parties Government of Burkina Faso Burkina Faso Armed Forces Zéphirin Diabré Bénéwendé Stanislas Sankara Simon Compaoré Pargui Emile Paré[3] Roch Marc Christian Kaboré Salif Diallo[citation needed] General Kouamé Lougué(Since 30 October) Saran Sereme Laurent Bado[4][clarification needed] Barry Tahirou[4][clarification needed] Sams’K Le Jah[5] Guy Hervé Kam[5] Blaise Compaoré President Luc-Adolphe Tiao Prime Minister [dubious – discuss] Soungalo Ouattara National Assembly Speaker Lieutenant ColonelYacouba Isaac Zida General Honoré Nabéré Traoré The 2014 Burkina Faso uprising was a series of demonstrations and riots in Burkina Faso in October 2014 that quickly spread to multiple cities.

They began in response to attempts at changing the constitution to allow President Blaise Compaoré to run again and extend his 27 years in office.

[6] Following a tumultuous day on 30 October, which included the involvement of former Defence Minister Kouamé Lougué and the burning of the National Assembly and other government buildings as well as the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress party's headquarters, Compaoré dissolved the government and declared a state of emergency before eventually fleeing to Côte d'Ivoire with the support of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.

However, Lieutenant Colonel Yacouba Isaac Zida also staked a claim to be interim head of state citing Traoré's unpopularity.

"[3] On 29 October, a mass rally accompanied by street battles took place against a "constitutional coup" involving hundreds of thousands of people.

The crowd headed to the presidential palace, while the military fired rubber bullets at about 1,500 people storming the National Assembly of Burkina Faso.

[1] At the television unit's building, protesters posed on the set of the evening news programme, while soldiers were deployed outside the Maison de la Radio with an armored personnel carrier to defend it from the crowd.

Violent protests also occurred in the country's second largest city Bobo-Dioulasso,[8] including the toppling of statues[1] and the local CDP headquarters,[12] and in Ouahigouya, in the north.

[19] Following Diabré's call, the next day, protesters then gathered at Ouagadougou's central Place de la Nation and outside the army headquarters amidst reports of a tense standoff at the latter with chants of "fulfill your responsibilities or we will do so ourselves.

[10] A coalition of unnamed opposition parties also issued a statement that read:[7] The victory of the popular uprising - and consequently the management of the transition - belongs to the people and should not in any way be confiscated by the army.

On 1 November, soldiers loyal to Zida patrolled the streets of Ouagadougou after his early morning radio announcement of assuming the role of interim head of state in order to avoid pandemonium during the democratic transition.

Protests continued at the Place de la Nation demanding civilian control of a new government instead of a military subversion of what was seen as a grassroots uprising.

[24] The army had also seized control of the building and cleared out all staff; at Place de la Nation barricades were erected as demonstrators against the "power grab" by the military were dispersed.

[26] Reports indicated opposition PDC[27][28] leader Saran Sereme,[26] along with an unnamed army general and a crowd of their supporters, went to the RTB site to declare themselves in charge of the transition.

[2] Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport authorities in Dakar were quoted by The Guardian as having confirmed Compaoré was in Senegal, but there was later dispute as to his location,[1][13] although his presence outside the country was affirmed.

[29] A communique read on Radio Omega at 17:00 reported that Compaoré had "dissolved government," declared a state of emergency and made an appeal to "stay calm.

[31] Communications Director Ibrahim Sakande announced the state of emergency with the "chief of the armed forces is in charge of implementing this decision."

[15] Following Compaoré's pledge to "open talks with all the actors to end the crisis," Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Honoré Nabéré Traoré then made an announcement that a transitional government would run the country until an election within 12 months.

[20] Radio Omega FM Ouaga said that "revolution 2.0" (in reference to the popular movement led by Thomas Sankara in 1983,[1] whose eventual overthrow and assassination was blamed on Compaoré[13]) has been called a victory by the opposition.

[1] After the violence peaked on 30 October, the bill was withdrawn from parliament, according to rushed statement by Communications Minister Alain Edouard Traore.

[19] Though demonstrators danced and cheered in Ouagadougou at the announcement of Compaoré's statement being broadcast, the mood cooled on news of Traoré taking interim office.

Arsene Evariste Kabore, the former editor-in-chief of state television, suggested people were not happy at the decision[36] as he was Compaoré's aide de camp.

[40] The next day, a statement was issued by unnamed top military leaders that read: "Lieutenant Colonel Yacouba Issac Zida has been elected unanimously to lead the transition period opened after the departure of President Blaise Compaore.

France 24 suggested Zida was willing to give up power to an MP or a representative of civil society in the coming days, although the lack of a timeframe was noted.

[43] Talks to choose the head of a transitional government, involving political parties and representatives of civil society, mediated by ECOWAS/AU regional leaders, followed.

[45] After initial reluctance, the army, represented by Colonel August Denise Barry, participated briefly in continuing talks held on 8 November.

Jeune Afrique also published an interview with Compaoré in which he alleged that "part of the opposition was working with the army" to plot his overthrow and that "history will tell us if they were right."

AU's deputy chairperson, Erastus Mwencha, accused the military of taking advantage of the indecision amongst political parties over the selection of an interim leader.

"[47] AU chairman and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz held talks with Zida on 10 November and said that "the African Union has not come to sanction Burkina Faso."

[5] The Guardian said the events could be "a promising break with the trend set by various African rulers finding elasticity in constitutional limits, including Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Namibia, Togo and Uganda.