Burundi: Presidential election - full text
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A presidential election was held in Burundi on June 28. The election was boycotted by all the political parties other than the ruling National Council for the Defence of Democracy-Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD). The poll thus took on the character of a referendum, with voters required to endorse or reject the CNDD-FDD candidate, and incumbent president, Pierre Nkurunziza. According to provisional results released by the country's electoral commission (Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendante, CENI), Nkurunziza was re-elected for another five year-term with 91.6 per cent of the vote.
Immediate Context
On June 1, just over a week after the May 24 communal elections, five opposition presidential candidates demanded the resignation of members of the electoral commission, CENI, and announced the formation of a new coalition, the Alliance of Democrats for Change (ADC-Ikibiri), which would boycott the forthcoming presidential election. The government promptly declared the boycott "illegal". ADC-Ikibiri condemned what it claimed was massive fraud in the elections for local councillors. Results published on May 28 had showed an overwhelming victory in the local elections for the ruling CNDD-FDD.
International and national election observers stated that despite "irregularities", the communal elections were largely free and fair, contradicting the claims of massive fraud made by the opposition parties. Those parties filed 36 distinct complaints with the provincial electoral commissions, including accusations of multiple voting, failure to publish vote tallies, and failure to follow required procedures for counting ballots. Most such complaints were dismissed by the provincial electoral commissions on the grounds that they did not significantly impact electoral outcomes. In a June 1 news conference, the ministers of public security and defence accused "those contesting the election results" of "disrupting public order and security, in blatant violation of the law and the electoral code".
The announcement of the opposition boycott meant that only Yves Sahinguvu of the Union for National Progress (Unite pour le Progrès National, UPRONA) was set to challenge incumbent President Nkurunziza, candidate of the CNDD-FDD. However, by the close of nominations on June 7, CENI had received only the nomination of Nkurunziza, indicating the Sahinguvu had also withdrawn from the contest.
After the close of nominations on June 7, a CENI spokesperson announced: "We shall have an election with just one candidate". In some African countriesZambia, being one exampleelectoral law required that where only one candidate had been nominated, that candidate be declared the winner without a poll being conducted. The 2005 constitution of Burundi, however, made no provisions for such a situation, simply stating that the "President of the Republic is elected by an absolute majority of the votes cast". Furthermore, the Burundian voting system provided for the conduct of a single-candidate poll without any legal amendments or modifications to procedures.
In the weeks leading up to the presidential election, the government imposed severe restrictions on the freedom of movement of opposition leaders, arrested dozens of opposition activists, and banned all opposition party meetings. The elections were further marred by political violence that escalated with the launch of the presidential campaign on June 12, including nearly 100 grenade attacks, the killings of at least two ruling party activists and an opposition activist, and arson attacks on at least 35 local offices of the ruling CNDD-FDD. While the grenade attacks and fires mostly targeted the CNDD-FDD, the targets of the arrests and restrictions of movement were generally members of the newly-formed ADC-Ikibiri.
According to UN observers, at least 55 opposition activists were arrested between June 25 and June 28, including high-ranking members of the opposition National Liberation Forces (Forces nationales de liberation, FNL) and Movement for Solidarity and Democracy (MSD). One journalist monitoring arrests told the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) that as of June 29, at least 74 opposition activists were behind bars. Some had reportedly been charged with serious crimes, such as "threatening state security", including Edouard Misago, a member of the FNL executive committee detained by the National Intelligence Service (Service national de renseignement, SNR). Others were accused of playing a role in the recent spate of grenade attacks.
Polling day itselfJune 28was marred by grenade attacks and the complete opposition boycott. Three grenade attacks were reported from Bujumbura (the capital), and two more exploded in the north of the country. In the southern Bujumbura FNL bastion of Kanyosha, only a handful of voters turned out to vote, compared to large numbers who had voted in the communal elections.
Reaction and Outlook
Pierre Nkurunziza's unchallenged victory in the June 28 presidential election prompted a sceptical reaction from international observers. Political antagonisms, rather than ethnic tension, appeared to be the primary reason for the mass boycott of the poll by the opposition. While Burundi had a long history of inter-ethnic bloodshed between the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis, in the case of the latest election the primary social fissures emerged between different ideological strands within the main Hutu parties. Given the Hutus' status as the largest ethnic group, winning the allegiance of this potentially powerful constituency became the country's most coveted political trophy.
The sudden withdrawal of the opposition parties from the presidential contest surprised many analysts. Observers expected opposition votes to be significant and spread relatively evenly among the opposition parties. The main opposition partiesFNL, UPRONA, and the Burundi Front for Democracy (Front pour la dmocratie au Burundi, FRODEBU) had all fielded presidential candidates before President Nkurunziza had announced his candidacy. It was unclear whether the opposition parties decided to drop out because of a failure to form a viable coalition or because of determined government threats. They were, however, united in their opposition to flaws in the electoral registration process as well as the actual conduct of the polling.
Of the opposition parties, the only-recently former rebel FNL, in particular, had struggled to mature into a legitimate political contender. The FNL, led by Agathon Rwasa, had only recently entered the political arena and many of its officials were uneducated and largely unaccustomed to the democratic process. In early June, Rwasa had gone into hiding, claiming he was facing arrest for allegedly destabilising the country following the communal elections. In a tape recording sent to media agencies on June 30, he said that he had gone into hiding after learning that the government wanted to arrest him on charges that he planned to mount a new insurgency. Rwasa and the FNL had been accused of carrying out a series of the grenade attacks during the election campaign, a claim denied by the party's leadership. The prospect of a return to arms by remnants of the FNL remains a real possibility in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election.
The sporadic violence which accompanied the communal and presidential elections never approached the widespread and ferocious inter-ethnic violence of the civil war years. However, the ethnic balance of recent years remains delicate and highly vulnerable to the spark of a political standoff. The country's population was young and all the major political parties had youth movements. Reports indicated that the CNDD-FDD's youth movement, the Imbonerakure, had recruited numbers of demobilised soldiers. In a report published in February, the International Crisis Group (ICG) noted that the Imbonerakure's "physical training, war songs and quasi-military organisation" had raised the spectre of militia violence and a large-scale intimidation campaign during the forthcoming elections. The opposition parties had recruited their own youth movements to oppose intimidation tactics. The northern communes of Bujumbura had, in the recent past, been a battlefield for the FNL youth wing, the Patriotic Hutu Youth (Jeunesse patriotique hutu, JPH), and demobilised combatants who frequently served as informants for the SNR.
In a report issued on July 1, the HRW warned that Burundi was "at a dangerous crossroads" and clearly ill-intentioned people on both sides of the political divide were seeking to exploit recent tensions. The report cautioned that increasing human rights violations could undermine Burundi's electoral process unless the government took "immediate action". Furthermore, the group instructed leaders of the ruling party and opposition groups to issue clear instructions to their members that acts of violence would not be tolerated. It called on the government of Burundi to immediately restore civil and political rights to opposition members who had not been formally charged with any crime, including the right to hold meetings and to travel. As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, Burundi was required to respect basic civil and political rights of all people, including the rights of free association, peaceful assembly, and freedom of movement, which encompasses the right to leave one's country.
Commentators remain divided over whether the country's most influential opposition partiesthe FNL, UPRONA, and FRODEBUwould rejoin the ballot for the parliamentary elections scheduled for July 23. CENI, the electoral commission, had indicated that it would be willing to extend the registration deadlines to allow these parties to rescind their boycott. As of mid-July, CENI's efforts had been to no avail, and the main opposition coalition, ADC-Ikibiri, remained hardened in its stance. However, given that the FNL and other parties had started in earnest their transition from rebel groups to legitimate political parties, it seemed unlikely that they would loiter on the margins for long. Whether they chose to participate in the democratic process or seek to extract concessions through other, more opaque means, remained an open question. Given President Nkurunziza's popularity in rural areas and the financial and logistical advantages it derived from control of state institutions, the CNDD-FDD was in a strong position ahead of the legislative elections. However, if the opposition decided to contest the forthcoming elections, the party could lose its majority in parliament and thus be forced to form a coalition government, a scenario which party hardliners, notably military leaders, strongly wish to avoid.
Historical Context
Twa (Batwa) pygmies were the earliest people of the Burundi forests. Hutu (Bahutu) cultivators settled from the 14th century but were swept aside by Tutsi (Batusi) herders over the next two centuries. The majority Hutu became virtual serfs. The central power of the Tutsi king or Mwami only declined towards the end of the 19th century.
Germany took control as the colonial power after 1884, merging Burundi with Rwanda (1899), and making Ruanda-Urundi part of German East Africa. Belgian troops occupied it during World War I, after which Belgium administered it under a League of Nations mandate, and later (1946) a UN trusteeship. UPRONA won UN-supervised elections in September 1961, and Prince Louis Rwagasore became prime minister; he was assassinated less than a month later. Burundi became an independent kingdom in July 1962. Two more prime ministers were assassinated before October 1965, when an abortive coup by Hutu soldiers was crushed and thousands killed.
An army coup in November 1966 overthrew the monarchy and Burundi became a republic under President Michel Micombero. The exiled former king, Mwami Ntare V, was killed in April 1972 during an abortive attempted coup, which was blamed on the Hutu. Around 100,000 Hutu died in the subsequent Tutsi crackdown and thousands more fled the country. A military coup ousted President Micombero in November 1976 and Lt-Col Jean-Baptise Bagaza, a Tutsi, became president, introducing some pro-Hutu reforms, although Tutsi dominance continued. Fellow Tutsi Pierre Buyoya deposed Bagaza in a September 1987 coup.
In February 1991 a National Unity Charter was overwhelmingly endorsed by voters in a national referendum. Under the terms of the Charter, Burundi moved to civilian rule and "controlled" multipartyism. However, the period of transition only served to unleash conflict between the majority Hutu ethnic group and the minority Tutsis who had traditionally exercised dominance.
Presidential elections held in June 1993 resulted in victory for Melchior Ndadaye, a Hutu, and subsequent legislative elections were won by the (Hutu) FRODEBU, marking an end to centuries of rule by the Tutsi minority. President Ndadaye was killed in an attempted coup by militant Hutu dissidents in October 1993 and he was succeeded in January 1994 by Cyprien Ntaryamira, a Hutu and a member of FRODEBU. Three months later Ntaryamira died in an unexplained air crash near Kigali (together with the President of Rwanda) and was succeeded by another Hutu and FRODEBU member, Sylvestre Ntibantunganya. From 1994 Hutu guerrillas launched a campaign against the Tutsi-dominated armed forces. Mounting insecurity culminated in a further military coup in July 1996 that brought Pierre Buyoya back to power. Buyoya attempted to form an ethnically mixed government and announced a three-year transition to civil rule, initiating a "national debate". This led by mid-1998 to a partnership agreement between the executive and the FRODEBU-dominated National Assembly, and the adoption of a new transitional constitution. This enlarged the National Assembly to 121 members; FRODEBU remained the dominant party, although a small number of seats were held by the (Tutsi) UPRONA. Buyoya was officially sworn in as president in June 1998.
Peace talks facilitated by former South African President Nelson Mandela resulted in the signing in July 2001 of the Arusha power-sharing agreement designed to end the civil war. Under the terms of the agreement, a new transitional government was formed in November 2001, composed of members of both the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups. It was agreed that President Buyoya would hold the presidency for a term limited to only 18-months at the start of a three-year transitional period. The transition was relatively orderly and in April 2003 Domitien Ndayizeye, a leader of the FRODEBU, replaced Buyoya as president. Hutu rebel opposition to the Arusha peace process - and in particular to Tutsi control of the armed forces - continued, led by hardline factions of the two main militias the CNDD-FDD and the FNL. In November 2003 President Ndayizeye and Pierre Nkurunziza, leader of the dominant faction of the CNDD-FDD, signed a comprehensive peace agreement and CNDD-FDD members were incorporated into a new cabinet.
A new constitution signed into law by President Ndayizeye in October 2004 was overwhelmingly approved in a national referendum held in February 2005. Approval of the new constitution effectively marked the end of the country's transitional government. Under the terms of the new constitution, the first president of the post-transition period would be elected by both houses of the bicameral legislature. Thereafter, presidents would be popularly elected. The government would "be open to all ethnic affiliations", but should be made up of a maximum of 60 per cent Hutu ministers and vice ministers and a maximum 40 per cent Tutsi ministers and vice ministers. Accordingly, in August 2005, CNDD-FDD candidate Pierre Nkurunziza was elected as the new president after winning over 91 per cent of votes cast by a joint session of the bicameral legislature. In May 2008 the FNL and the government signed a ceasefire agreement and a year later President Nkurunziza appointed several senior FNL officials to government posts.
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