Roch Marc Kaboré, candidate of the People's Movement for Progress (MPP), has been elected new president of BurkinaFaso after the first round with 53.49% of votes, according to provisional results announced on 1st December by the National Independence Commission (NIC/CENI).

His main challenger, Zéphirin Diabré, who was the flag bearer for the People's Union for Change (UPC), came in second position with 29.65% of votes. Tahirou Barry, candidate of the Party for National Rebirth (Paren), which ranked third, garnered only 3.09% voices.

A few minutes after the announcement of these results, Zéphirin Diabré went to theMPP's headquarters to admit defeat and congratulate his challenger.

Roch Marc Kaboré, 58, was one of the key people in the Blaise Compaoré regime. He has held prestigious positions including President of the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP, party in power during Compaoré's regime); he was also Prime Minister and President of the Parliament before breaking awayfrom the old regime just ten months before the fall of Blaise Compaoré who was driven away by civil demonstrations in October 2014 after 27 years of reign.

A former DeputyGovernor of the BCEAO (Central Bank of West African States), Kaboré is from theMossi ethnic group (spoken by 53% of the population). However, he is a practicing Catholic in a Muslim-dominated country(63%).