Mossi people
On 25 November, Colonel Saye Zerbo led a military "coup d'état", overthrowing President Lamizana. The coup proved both bloodless and successful. The riot police, deployed against the striking workers, attempted a counter-coup in support of Lamizana, but failed to reinstate him. Zerbo – a military veteran, former Minister of Foreign Affairs 1974–1976, commander of the army regiment in the capital Ouagadougou, and head of military intelligence – suspended the constitution, and established the Military Committee of Recovery for National Progress (, CMPRN), a 31-member junta. Several members of the junta were young and radical, among them future presidents Thomas Sankara and Blaise Compaoré. Among the parts of society that supported the coup were the Mossi people and the Upper Voltan Catholics, two groups sidelined by Lamizana, although Zerbo like his predecessor was a Bissa Muslim.