Polling stations opened in Burundi on Tuesday for a controversial presidential election that was being boycotted by the opposition.
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The opposition and civil society groups opposed his candidature, arguing that the Arusha Agreement stipulated that presidents serve for only two terms, something Nkurunziza had done since 2005. As Burundians are getting ready to go to the poll Tuesday July 21, three candidates, including two former presidents, announced their withdrawal from…
At least one policeman and a civilian were killed in overnight violence, a presidential official said, after blasts and gunfire had echoed around the capital.
“The regime in Burundi is becoming rapidly more authoritarian as President Pierre Nkurunziza continues to push for a third mandate”.
The opposition has called for a boycott of the election, which is going ahead despite months of violent anti-government protests and appeals from the global community for the incumbent leader to step aside.
The small, lush nation in central Africa has a population of nearly 10.4 million.
Nkurunziza’s CNDD-FDD party scored a widely-expected landslide win in parliamentary polls held on May 29 that were boycotted by the opposition and condemned internationally as neither free nor fair.
Burundi’s Interior Minister Edouard Nduwimana who is the spokesman for the governmental group in the dialogue justified the withdrawal, alluding to the declaration by some opposition figures calling for the creation of a National Council for the Restoration of Arusha Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Burundi.
The elections were in disarray on Sunday 19 July as government representatives failed to show up for talks about the unrest.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has asked Burundian authorities to ensure that today’s election is carried out peacefully.
“Each day up to 1,000 people cross the border, through the forest between Burundi and Tanzania, (with) many travelling in the dark on foot, and without belongings”, MSF said. After they failed, a rebellion began in the north of the country. Many in Burundi feared a war similar to the country’s last civil war, which ended in 2005 but left 300,000 dead after 12 years.
The African Union (AU) has stated it is not sending observers – the first time it has taken such a stance against a member state.
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Analysts say renewed conflict in the country could reignite ethnic Hutu-Tutsi violence and bring another humanitarian disaster on the region. The conflict also risks drawing in neighbouring states – much like in the war-torn east of Democratic Republic of Congo. Nkurunziza’s critics including his second vice-president, the deputy president of the Constitutional Court and the vice-chairwoman of the electoral commission are among dozens who have gone to exile alleging death threats.
