The African Independence Party (french: Parti Africain de l'Indépendance) was a

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to ...

(formerly Upper Volta), led by

Thomas Sankara Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (; 21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabé military officer, Marxist–Leninist revolutionary, and Pan-Africanist, who served as President of Burkina Faso from his coup in 1983 to his deposition a ...

and Philippe Ouédraogo. It was a part of the Pan-African communist African Independence Party (PAI), which established its branch in Upper Volta in 1963. In 1973, PAI launched the Patriotic League for Development (LIPAD) as its open mass front. LIPAD became an important movement during the revolution of 1983 and through LIPAD PAI took part in the

government for one year. Then relations with Sankara soured and LIPAD was expelled from the government. In the 1992 parliamentary elections, PAI was part of the pro-government

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

. PAI won two seats. In 1999, the PAI split, and Soumane Touré formed a parallel PAI. The PAI led by Touré, which joined the government, obtained the legal recognition of the name PAI. The PAI led by Ouédraogo registered an electoral party, the

Party for Democracy and Socialism The Party for Democracy and Socialism (french: Parti pour la Démocratie et le Socialisme) was a registered political party in Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta). In 1999 the African Independence Party (PAI) split, and Soumane Touré formed a ...

in 2002, in order to contest the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

on 5 May 2002. PDS won 1.7% of the popular vote and 2 out of 111 seats. In 2005, Ouédraogo won 2.3% of the vote in the presidential elections. He was supported by the PAI, the PDS, the CDS, the GDP and the UFP. PAI published . In 2012, the party merged into Party for Democracy and Socialism/Metba.''Sidwaya''.
Le PDS/Metba convoite 50 députés
''

References

1963 establishments in Upper Volta 1999 disestablishments in Burkina Faso Formerly ruling communist parties Communist parties in Burkina Faso Defunct political parties in Burkina Faso Pan-Africanism in Burkina Faso Pan-Africanist political parties in Africa Political parties disestablished in 1999 Political parties established in 1963 {{BurkinaFaso-party-stub