Change 2005

Change 2005 (French: Alternance 2005) was a political alliance in Burkina Faso (the former Upper Volta), founded to contest the presidential election in 2005.^[1] The incumbent, Blaise Compaore, was standing for a third term and was expected to win despite claims that another term in office would be unconstitutional.^[2] He was re-elected with 80.35% of the votes.^[3]

Alternance 2005 was founded in December 2004 by 16 leftist parties. The grouping had put forward three candidates for the first round of the election: Hermann Yaméogo, president of Union nationale pour la démocratie et le développement (UNDD - National Union for Democracy and Development), Benewendé Stanislas Sankara of Union pour la renaissance/Mouvement sankariste (UNIR/MS - Union for Rebirth/Sankarist Movement) and Philippe Ouédraogo of the Parti africain de l'indépendance (PAI). However, Ouédraogo, later stood as a candidate for his own party, Rassemblement des écologistes du Burkina (RDEB - Rally of the Ecologists of Burkina) which announced its "retirement" from Alternance 2005 and supported its own candidate.^[4]

Sankara, an MP, was one of the most prominent opposition figures in the election though few expected him to make an impression.^[2] He received 4.88% of the vote.

The parties forming the alliance were:

• African Independence Party
• Citizens’ League of Builders
• Convergence for Social Democracy
• Group of Patriotic Democrats
• Movement for Democracy and Rebirth
• National Union for Democracy and Development
• Party for Democracy and Progress / Socialist Party
• Party for Democracy and Socialism
• Party of the Independent Forces for Development
• Patriotic Front for Change
• Rally of the Ecologists of Burkina
• Sankarist Democratic Front
• Social Forces Front
• Socialist Peasants Party
• Union for Rebirth/Sankarist Movement
• Union of Independent Democrats and Progressives