Burkina Faso announced the selection of interim President Michel Kafando on Monday, a move the Egyptian Foreign Minister says shows “political maturity”.
Kafando was appointed after Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida reinstated the constitution on Sunday, following its suspension after the ousting of former President Blaise Compaore on 31 October.
Compaore had attempted to modify the constitution to remain in power, a plan that triggered mass protests and led to a military coup.
Zida initially declared himself head of state but the move drew widespread international criticism, and the colonel later pledged to hand power over to civilian rulers.
Kafando, 72, is a retired diplomat who served as foreign minister and then Burkina Faso’s ambassador to the United Nations for 13 years. As interim president he will lead the country until elections in November 2015.
An Egyptian foreign ministry spokesperson says the latest developments “show political maturity by all parties” and called for “maximum restraint and to resort to dialogue to resolve all differences between parties”.
Egypt is emerging from its own transition period following the military’s ousting of Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 . Head of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adly Mansour served as interim president until the landslide presidential election victory of former commander-in-chief of the armed forces and defence minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in June 2014.
