West Africa’s fifth successful coup in just over two years is testing a regional bloc that’s running out of ideas to maintain political stability in the face of threats by jihadists.
The Economic Community of West African States, which aims to create a trading bloc and promote democracy, is negotiating a return to civilian rule in three member states including Burkina Faso, where the latest coup occurred this week. The country’s now-ousted leadership had agreed for elections to be held by July 2024 to restore democracy.
“Ecowas finds this new coup unfortunate at a time when progress had been made, through diplomatic and Ecowas efforts, to ensure a methodical return to democracy,” the 15-nation bloc said Friday in a statement calling for the deadline of July 2024 to be maintained.
