Burundi ready for disputed voting despite nation’s unrest

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Protester in Burundi 

In Summary

• The opposition on Friday said it was boycotting the polls, claiming it is not possible to hold a fair vote with over 127,000 people having fled into neighbouring countries, fearing violence.

Bujumbura. Burundi’s national electoral commission dismissed weeks of violence Sunday and said all was ready a day ahead of key polls in the central African nation that the UN warns should be postponed.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for the elections due Monday to be delayed after the opposition said they would not take part, as Burundi faces its worst crisis since its civil war ended nine years ago.

“Everything is ready in the country,” election commission chief Pierre-Claver Ndayicariye told reporters Sunday, saying all voting material had been delivered to voting centres, with over 11,000 polling stations across the country.

Three people were killed overnight Saturday, adding to the more than 70 killed in weeks of violence and a failed coup sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid to stay in power for a third term.

One was shot while another was killed in a grenade blast, according to witnesses. A soldier was killed by accident by a comrade during a raid on a house. The opposition on Friday said it was boycotting the polls, claiming it is not possible to hold a fair vote, with over 127,000 people having fled into neighbouring countries, fearing further violence.

Parliamentary and local elections are set to be held on Monday, and a presidential vote on July 15.

Opponents say his bid for another term is unconstitutional and violates a peace accord that paved the way to end 13 years of civil war in 2006. “All the opposition have unanimously decided to boycott the elections,” said Charles Nditije, a key opposition leader, in a letter signed by all the country’s opposition groups to the election commission. But Ndayicariye said the commission had not received any official notification confirming the withdrawal from the vote, meaning that the election would therefore progress without delay. Votes cast for the opposition would therefore still count, he said. “This is nothing new in Burundi. In Africa, boycott is another way of doing politics,” he said. The opposition boycotted polls in 2010.

Burundi was plunged into turmoil in late April when Nkurunziza launched his drive for a third consecutive five-year term, triggering widespread protests.

Opponents say his bid for another term is unconstitutional and violates a peace accord that paved the way to end 13 years of civil war in 2006.(AFP)