Union for Rebirth / Sankarist Party

The Union for Rebirth / Sankarist Party (French: Union pour la Renaissance / Parti Sankariste, UNIR / PS) was a political party in Burkina Faso.

Union for Rebirth / Sankarist Party
Leader	Bénéwendé Stanislas Sankara
Founded	2000
Dissolved	2021
Merged into	Union for Rebirth / Patriotic Sankarist Movement
Ideology	Sankarism Socialism
Political position	Left-wing
Slogan	"Avec le Peuple, Victoire!" ("With the People, Victory!")
National Assembly	5 / 127
Website
Union pour la Renaissance / Mouvement Sankariste, UNIR/MS
Politics of Burkina Faso Political parties Elections

History

Party headquarters of the UNIR/PS with a poster portraying Thomas Sankara.

The party was founded on November 1, 2000. Its president is lawyer Bénéwendé Stanislas Sankara,^[1] who bears no family relationship to Thomas Sankara.^[2]

The name "Sankarist" party appears to be a reference to both the late President Thomas Sankara and the party's current leader. The party subscribes to Sankarism.

At the legislative elections on 5 May 2002, the party won 2.4% of the popular vote and three out of 111 seats. In the presidential election of 13 November 2005, its candidate Bénéwendé Stanislas Sankara took second place with 4.88% of the popular vote.^[3] At the 2007 parliamentary elections, the party won four seats.

Political scientist Bettina Engels [de] states that the UNIR/PS was among the opposition parties that participated in the 2014 uprising that ousted Blaise Compaoré, but that it "did not play a major role". The UNIR/PS went on to support the government of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré.^[4]

On November 1st, 2021, it was announced that the party merged with the Mouvement Patriotique pour le Salut and other small Sankarist parties and organisations into a new party, the Union pour la Renaissance/ Mouvement patriotique sankariste (Union for Rebirth / Patriotic Sankarist Movement) or UNIR/MPS.^[5][6] Bénéwendé Sankara continued to lead this party until he was succeeded by interim president Augustin Loada in January 2023.^[7]

Electoral history

National Assembly

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	+/–
2002	42,599	2.45 (#)	3 / 111
2007	90,705	3.89 (#4)	4 / 111	1
2012	131,592	4.36 (#4)	4 / 111
2015	118,662	3.76 (#5)	5 / 150	1
2020	68,727	2.45 (#6)	5 / 150

See also

• Union of Sankarist Parties
• Category:Union for Rebirth / Sankarist Party politicians

References

1. Page about the party Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine on thomassankara.net.
2. De-Valera N.Y.M. Botchway and Moussa Traore, "Military Coup, Popular Revolution or Militarised Revolution?", in A Certain Amount of Madness: The Life, Politics and Legacies of Thomas Sankara (ed. Amber Murrey), London: Pluto Press, 2018, p. 22.
3. Elections in Burkina Faso, African Elections Database.
4. Bettina Engels, "Social Movement Struggles and Political Transition in Burkina Faso", in A Certain Amount of Madness: The Life, Politics and Legacies of Thomas Sankara (ed. Amber Murrey), London: Pluto Press, 2018, pp. 264-265.
5. "Burkina : L'Union pour la Renaissance/Mouvement patriotique sankariste (UNIR/MPS), le nouveau parti dirigé par Me Bénéwendé Sankara". Lefaso.net. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
6. "UNIR/MPS : Nouveau parti sankariste pour repartir à la conquête du pouvoir d'Etat". Burkina Demain. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
7. "Présidence de l'UNIR/MPS : Me Bénéwendé Sankara passe le témoin après 22 ans". Burkina24. Retrieved 28 June 2024.