Opposition candidates quit Burundi presidential race

“The government has opted to isolate itself and go ahead with pseudo-elections”, said Leonce Ngendakumana, a prominent opposition figure, after talks on the crisis mediated by Uganda broke down on Sunday, July 19.

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. Image source defencewebTALKS between Burundi’s government and opposition aimed at resolving a major crisis over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial re-election bid were suspended yesterday after the government failed to turn up, the Ugandan Defence Minister, Crispus Kiyonga, said.

“We have been waiting, we have been making calls and we have not seen anyone from government”, said Kiyonga. More than 150,000 people have fled the country because of the unrest, which has included a fierce government crackdown on demonstrations that has left at least 100 dead.

“We will have presidential elections that are not credible, just like the parliament elections”, the diplomat said, saying the only hope now was for the government to “open up for talks after the polls”.

The two nations are part of the East African Community, also comprising Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, which has proposed Burundi delay the vote until July 30, from July 21, to allow time for mediation.

On July 9, the situation on Burundi was most recently discussed by the Security Council.

In mid-May, rebel generals also attempted to overthrow Nkurunziza in a coup, although this failed and they have since launched a rebellion in the north of the country.

“This can escalate into major conflict through the use of outright repression against, and intimidation of, the population at large, the instrumentalization of the police, the closure of independent media, as well as the detention of the opposition and other civic leaders”, they continued. It cited an opposition assertion calling for the creation of a standard anti-Nkurunziza entrance that might additionally embrace Burundian exiles.

He told The Associated Press that the government had to discuss the opposition’s remarks with the facilitator before returning to the talks.

Three out of the eight presidential candidates have already pulled out of the race, leaving Nkurunziza on monitor for a close to-sure victory.

Nkurunziza’s ruling CNDD-FDD party scored a widely-expected landslide win in parliamentary polls held on May 29, but these were boycotted by the opposition and condemned internationally as neither free nor fair.