Burkina Faso’s military ruler, Ibrahim Traoré, has said the country should “forget” democracy for now, as his government continues to delay a return to civilian rule.

Speaking in a televised interview on state broadcaster RTB on Thursday, Traoré stated that elections are not currently a priority.

“We are not even talking about elections, first of all. People need to forget about the issue of democracy.Democracy is not for us,” he said.

Traoré came to power in September 2022 after leading a coup that ousted a previous military junta, marking Burkina Faso’s second coup that year. Since then, his administration has tightened control over political activity and public dissent.

In recent developments, the military government dissolved the country’s electoral commission in 2023.

In February 2026, the junta-led parliament also disbanded all political parties, formalizing a suspension that had been in place since the 2022 coup.

Burkina Faso had initially committed to a transition back to democratic governance following the January 2022 coup, with elections scheduled for July 2024.

However, the junta later extended the transition period by five years, allowing Traoré to remain in power until at least 2029.

Burkina Faso’s leadership has increasingly distanced itself from Western allies, particularly France, amid shifting geopolitical alignments in the Sahel region.

The junta has not provided a revised timeline for elections beyond the extended transition framework.