7th June, 2018
President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi will not seek re-election when his term ends in 2020, Radio France International reported on Thursday.
Nkurunziza made the announcement in Bugendana district in the province of Gitega, central Burundi, after promulgating the newly voted constitution at a presidential palace in Gitega, which allows him to stay in office until 2034 if he is elected in future presidential elections.
On July 24, 2015, Nkurunziza, won a predictable landslide victory in dispirited election marred by violence and opposition boycott.
He is serving a third five-year term after taking 69.41 per cent of the vote, 50 percentage points ahead of his leading opponent, Agathon Rwasa.
Britain, the US and others have condemned the election as not credible due to the harassment and intimidation of the opposition, rights activists, journalists and voters.
The country was plunged into turmoil in late April when Nkurunziza launched his drive for a third consecutive term, triggering widespread protests and a failed coup in May.
Burundi’s constitution stipulates that a president can only serve for two terms, but Nkurunziza’s party said he was eligible for another term as popularly elected president because he was elected by lawmakers for his first.
Three of Nkurunziza’s seven opposition candidates formally boycotted the vote, while Rwasa said he would not recognise the result.
Nkurunziza’s campaign created a dangerous split between his supporters and opponents in a country that has suffered two genocides and a 13-year civil war in the past half-century.
A September report by UN rights experts recounted spine-chilling cases of torture and horrific sexual violence, mass arrests and disappearances and warned that “the crime of genocide also looms large.”
Burundi has a long history of violence between its Hutu and Tutsi communities, which led to the 12-year civil war that ended in 2006.
Nkurunziza acknowledged that he promised upon his re-election in 2015 not to stand for office in 2020, but said it was made “given the situation at the moment”.
Nkurunziza also threatened to withdraw Burundi’s 5,400 troops from the African Union peacekeeping force stationed in Somalia next month unless they are paid.
The European Union has been financing the AU mission in Somalia to back Somalia’s internationally-backed administration in fighting the Shabaab jihadist militia, but according to analysts, Brussels doesn’t want to pay the money to the Burundi government directly as it fears the funds could be diverted.
The Burundi troops, which form the second-largest contingent, haven’t been paid in 11 months according to the government.