Violence is mounting in the aftermath of Monday’s legislative and communal polls boycotted by the opposition.
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A preliminary statement from the observers said the electoral process took place “in a tense political crisis” and “fundamental freedoms of participation, assembly, expression, opinion and information” suffered increasing restrictions during the campaign and as Monday’s election approached.
On Monday, some voting stations were also attacked by grenades, according to the police.
Mr. Nkurunziza has been in office for two terms since 2005, and a broad array of actors warned that an attempt to seek a third term was unconstitutional and contrary to the spirit of the 2000 Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi that ended a decade of civil war in the country.
The only worldwide observers were those of the United Nations, who said that “episodes of violence and explosions preceded, and in some cases accompanied election day activities, mostly in Bujumbura“, in their nine-page report.
“The overall environment was not conducive for free, credible and inclusive elections”, the United Nations official said.
At least five persons including four assailants and one policeman were killed in a fighting that happened Wednesday at Mutakura in Cibitoke neighborhood in the Burundian capital Bujumbura, the Burundian police spokesman has told Xinhua.
An AFP reporter at the scene saw the six bodies, three of whom had bullet wounds to the head.
Kirby said this should include the delay of the July 15 presidential election, until conditions are in place for free, fair and peaceful poll.
The elections on June 29 went ahead in the African country despite an global outcry and are slated to be followed by a presidential vote on July 17.
However, Burundi’s Constitutional Court recently ruled that Nkurunziza’s third-term bid would not violate the constitution.
About 140,000 people have fled the country, stoking concern in a region with a history of ethnic conflict, particularly in Rwanda, where 800,000 people were killed in 1994.
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The East Africa meeting will be held on July 6 in Tanzania’s economic capital Dar es Salaam, where two regional summits on the crisis have already been held.
