Ouagadougou - The ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) won nearly two-thirds of Burkina Faso's local council seats in last month's municipal elections, according to provisional results released on Monday.
The CDP looked to have taken 12 587 seats out of 17 786 that were up for grabs on April 23 in 350 urban and rural municipalities, the national electoral commission (CENI) said.
The 4 929 remaining positions will be shared among around 40 of the 70 political groupings that took part in the elections, intended to complete a decentralisation process that started 10 years ago in the West African country.
President Blaise Compaore's party looked set to control almost all of Burkina Faso's major towns, including the capital Ouagadougou and the economic hub of Bobo-Dioulasso in the west of the country.
But CENI chairman Moussa Michel Tapsoba said he regretted that the poll had registered a low turnout, the lowest since parliamentary elections in 2002.
Just under half of the country's 3.8 million registered voters cast their ballots.
In the November 2005 presidential election, which saw Compaore re-elected with 80 percent of the vote after 18 years in power, turnout was 57 percent.
Political parties that took part in the elections have a week from Monday to lodge any complaints at the country's constitutional council. - Sapa-AFP