National Assembly of Burkina Faso

The Unicameral National Assembly is Burkina Faso's legislative body. In 1995, it became the lower house of a bicameral Parliament, but the upper house (Chamber of Representatives) was abolished in 2002. The upper house was to have been restored under the name "Senate" in the June 2012 constitutional amendments.[1] This revision was never executed due to an extended and unresolved political confrontation over the Senate's establishment, which left the country effectively with a unicameral legislature as of the October 2014 constitutional crisis.[2]

National Assembly

Assemblée nationale
7th National Assembly
Type
Type
Leadership
Alassane Bala Sakandé, MPP
since 8 September 2017
Structure
Seats127
Political groups
  MPP (56)
  CDP (20)
  NTD (13)
  UPC (12)
  UNIR / PS (5)
  MBF (4)
  ADF–RDA (3)
  PRI (3)
  PDC (3)
  AE (2)
  CNP (2)
  PDS/Metba (1)
  CPS-G3 (1)
  APR (1)
  PUR (1)
Elections
Proportional representation
Last election
22 November 2020
Next election
2025
Meeting place
Parliament Building, Ouagadougou
Website
www.assembleenationale.bf
Constitution
Constitution of Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Burkina Faso
Constitution
Government
Parliament
Administrative divisions
Elections
Foreign relations
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    Minister: Alpha Barry

On 30 October 2014, as part of the 2014 Burkinabé uprising, protesters stormed the parliament building and set fire to it, in anger at the Parliament's decision to amend the Constitution of Burkina Faso to abolish term limits, which would have effectively paved the way for President Blaise Compaoré to remain in office for another five-year term.[3]

Electing the National Assembly

Burkina Faso is divided into 45 electoral provinces within their 13 regions. Each province elects between two and nine representatives, and these representatives are members of political parties. There are 111 members of the National Assembly elected to represent provinces, and 16 nationally elected, totaling 127.[4]

In Burkina Faso, the National Assembly is elected by a proportional representational system.[4] Proportional representation in Burkina Faso means that each person marks one party on the ballot, and after tallying the votes, the top parties chosen are elected to the Assembly. Each electoral province has a simple electoral quotient. This is the number of valid votes counted divided by the number of seats available. If a party wins a seat by the electoral quotient, usually half of the votes, then the remainder of the seats are transferred to a "rest" category, which are compared to the other votes gathered. For example, in the province of Boulkiemde, the MPP received 29,445 votes, which is 35.1% of the total votes of the province.[5] Boulkiemde elects four representatives to their legislature, so their electoral quotient is 21002 votes (84007÷4). This means that the MPP will receive one seat from the electoral quotient. The remaining votes are transferred to another category, which is compared among the other candidates. These remaining votes in Boulkiemde won the MPP another seat in the legislature, since the remaining votes (8443) are the second highest compared to the rest of the parties (CDP=16968, UPC=8099). Thus, since the MPP received 35.1% of the votes, they received 50% of the seats due to the electoral quotient.

Elections are led by teachers in Burkina Faso, who are not allowed to be a member of any political party.  The ballot has a name, acronym, or symbol of the party and a space for voters to mark.[6] The ballots are placed in envelopes, and then placed in ballot boxes. The leader of the election officials ensures that the seal is not broken before counting all of the votes. The teachers who are trained as election officials become counting officials.[6] Invalid ballots include those that have no marks, more than one mark, or ballots not in an envelope.  The ballots are sent to the district level after counting them, where the winner of a legislative seat will be determined based on the number of votes. The districts are divided by one seat per 100,000 people, so the capital, Ouagadougou, has nine seats.

2015 National Assembly elections

In the 2015 parliamentary election, the People's Movement for Progress party received 51.3% of the national vote, winning 55 seats. The Union for Progress and Change, or UPC, received 20.5% of the vote, which won them 33 seats. The Congress for Democracy and Progress party won 18 seats with 13.2% of the vote, and the New Alliance of Faso party received two seats, with 4.1% of the vote.

Results by electoral province: 111 seats
Electoral province Total votes Seats Party Votes Proportion of vote Party Votes Proportion of vote Party Votes Proportion of vote Party Votes Proportion of vote
Bale 41073 2 MPP 19371 0.471624 UPC 9812 0.238892
BAM 63247 2 MPP 25934 0.410043 CDP 11145 0.176214
Banwa 42014 2 MPP 19941 0.474628 Unir/PS 6268 0.149188
Bazega 50346 2 MPP 17870 0.354944 UPC 11301 0.224467
Bougouriba 18450 2 MPP 5694 0.308618 UPC 5445 0.295122
Boulgou 127210 4 MPP 22695 0.178406 UPC (2) 67552 0.531027 CDP 8696 0.068359
Boulkiemde 84007 4 MPP 29445 0.350507 CDP 16968 0.201983 UPC 8099 0.096409
Comoe 69488 2 MPP 25270 0.36366 UPC 11242 0.161783
Fada Gourma 58041 2 MPP 18357 0.316276 UPC 15554 0.267983
Ganzourgou 69710 2 MPP (2) 52913 0.759045 0
Gnagna 91655 3 MPP 29178 0.318346 UPC 27498 0.300016 NTD 10377 0.113218
Houet 225085 6 MPP (2) 69802 0.310114 CDP 26360 0.117111 UPC 45534 0.202297 UNIR 9376 0.041655
Ioba 42233 2 MPP 12751 0.30192 UPC 14623 0.346246
Kadiogo 617782 9 MPP (3) 213179 0.345072 UPC (2) 150492 0.2436 UNIR/PS 38896 0.062961 CDP 56143 0.090878
Kenedougou 53261 2 MPP 19093 0.35848 UPC 17611 0.330655
Komondjari 20159 2 MPP 9462 0.469369 UPC 6862 0.340394
Kossi 48419 2 MPP 15154 0.312976 UPC 9888 0.204217
Kompienga 18401 2 CDP 5205 0.282865 UPC 6409 0.348296
Koulpelogo 53070 2 MPP 18170 0.342378 UPC 13445 0.253345
Kouritenga 77784 2 MPP 32552 0.418492 UPC 18014 0.23159
Kourweogo 25441 2 MPP 7360 0.289297 CDP 4933 0.1939
Leraba 27966 2 MPP 9355 0.334513 UPC 7818 0.279554
Lorum 34287 2 MPP 9878 0.288098 MDA 11170 0.325779
Mouhoun 51444 2 MPP 19909 0.387003 UPC 11099 0.215749
Nahouri 44028 2 MPP 13832 0.314164 UPC 12941 0.293927
Namentenga 56533 2 MPP 23028 0.407337 CDP 9969 0.176339
Nayala 34643 2 MPP 15171 0.437924 CDP 7259 0.209537
Noumbiel 14842 2 MPP 4924 0.331761 UPC 4193 0.282509
Oubritenga 49117 2 MPP 11986 0.24403 CDP 26189 0.533196
Oudalan 52303 2 MPP 16194 0.309619 UBN 15745 0.301034
Passore 65708 3 MPP 18252 0.277774 CDP 10648 0.16205 UNIR/PS 17237 0.262327
Poni 38461 2 MPP 10154 0.264008 UPC 11294 0.293648
Sanguie 56181 2 MPP 14621 0.260248 NAFA 17605 0.313362
Sanmatenga 112624 4 MPP 31442 0.279177 UPC 8755 0.077737 RDS 15794 0.140237 CDP 21013 0.186577
Seno 73007 2 MPP 17670 0.242032 PDS 28165 0.385785
Sissili 39556 2 MPP 15118 0.382192 UPC 8600 0.217413
Soum 79247 2 MPP 18583 0.234495 CDP 20752 0.261865
Sourou 38569 2 MPP 10875 0.281962 CDP 9117 0.236382
Tapoa 61826 2 MPP 28171 0.45565 UPC 19121 0.309271
Tuy 36948 2 MPP 17322 0.468821 UPC 7018 0.189943
Yagha 39735 2 MPP 12236 0.30794 NTD 8751 0.220234
Yatenga 138773 4 MPP(2) 68883 0.496372 ADF-RDA 22692 0.163519 CDP 12807 0.092287
Ziro 28638 2 MPP 10271 0.358649 LFA 7028 0.245408
Zondoma 36902 2 MPP 21655 0.586825 CDP 6489 0.175844
Zoundweogo 54207 2 CDP 13097 0.241611 UPC 26744 0.493368


A pie chart showing how many seats won in the 2015 Burkina Faso National Assembly Elections. The "other" category includes 6 separate political parties.[7]

National results: 16 seats
Political party Number of votes Number of seats Proportion of vote
ADF-RDA 96614 1 0.030577
CDP 417058 2 0.131995
MPP 1096814 6 0.347131
NAFA 130963 1 0.041449
NTD 70374 1 0.022273
PAREN 59421 1 0.018806
UNIR/PC 118662 1 0.037555
UPC 648784 3 0.205334
The frequency for the number of seats reserved for provinces. The majority of electoral provinces have two seats reserved, while few have more than two.

See also

References
  1. Kere, Barthélemy. "Constitution of Burkina Faso - WIPO (français)" (PDF). WIPO.int. WIPO. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  2. Coulibaly, Nadoun. "Burkina Faso : vers un référendum constitutionnel pour Blaise Compaoré?". Groupe Jeune Afrique. Jeune Afrique. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  3. Taoko, Herve; Cowell, Alan; Callimachi, Rukmini (30 October 2014). "Violent Protests Topple Government in Burkina Faso". New York Times Company. New York Times. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  4. "Sahel Research Group | Burkina Faso". sahelresearch.africa.ufl.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-06-09. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  5. "ELECTIONS LEGISLATIVES A CIRCONSCRIPTION PROVINCIALE" (PDF). Ceni.gov. CENI. December 1, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  6. "Electoral Systems Counting Requirements —". aceproject.org. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  7. "IFES Election Guide - Elections: Parliament". www.electionguide.org. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
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