Accept Election Result, Say Parties Backing B.Faso President

Accept election result, say parties backing B.Faso president

Ouagadougou, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Nov, 2020 ) :Parties backing Burkina President Roch Marc Christian Kabore on Tuesday called for "respect of the results" of presidential and parliamentary elections which the opposition is threatening to reject.

The Alliance of Parties in the Presidential Majority (APMP) urged all parties to respect the outcome of Sunday's voting in the west African country, lawyer Benewende Sankara told journalists in Ouagadougou.

Sankara also asked the candidates to take up any electoral challenges they have with "the appropriate structures".

When the electoral commission began releasing the initial results of the poll on Monday, opposition parties said the presidential and parliamentary figures were "studded with fraud" and threatened "not to accept results marred by irregularities".

The day before Sunday's election, the opposition claimed that "massive fraud" was being prepared, and filed a legal case.

Specific opposition complaints included the late opening or failure to open of some polling stations, the unprotected transport of ballot boxes, the lack of sufficient material and personnel in charge of the vote, and what they said were arbitrary changes in the mapping of polling stations.

But in his remarks Tuesday, Sankara responded: "The APMP considers that the flaws and insufficiencies that marred the voting process can in no way reflect any kind of intention to undermine the sincerity of the election.

"The flaws reported are prejudicial to all the competing candidates and political parties and to each in the same way.

"The reported failings, while regrettable, are not on a scale to have a significant impact on the result of the vote," he added.

Meanwhile envoys from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, present to observe the election, met with members of the opposition for "preventive diplomacy", a delegate of the mission told AFP.

"It is certain that we are heading towards a crisis and things are likely to go downhill," the source said, adding that the delegates planned to meet with APMP members.

the pro-Kabore parties have promised a first-round victory for the incumbent president as was the case in 2015.

Kabore would thus avoid a second round of voting in which he would stand against a single candidate backed by a united opposition.

The presidential election was considered to be the most open race in Burkina's history, which has also seen multiple coups.

Security was tight for Sunday's vote across a nation living its darkest hours since independence because of attacks by jihadist groups that have killed at least 1,200 people over five years.

Because of the unrest, the election was not held across at least one-fifth of the territory.