Blaise and Chantal married on 29 June 1985, five months after first meeting. According to most sources, the marriage had been arranged in one way or another by President Houphouët-Boigny, who wanted an ally within the revolutionary left-wing government of Burkina Faso, with which he frequently clashed at the time. According to Dr. Valère Somé, one-time Minister of Higher Education and Research and a prominent ideologue of Sankara's "Democratic and Popular Revolution", Chantal Compaoré clashed with the President, once publicly referring to his "pretend revolution" during a dinner party after not being allowed by Sankara to serve him champagne.