Burundi Election Unrest As EU Withdraws Aid

Burundi's current president, Pierre Nkurunziza, is seeking a third term next month despite an attempted coup and large unrest from the people. President Nkurunziza was elected as president by Burundi's parliament in 2005 and as such he claims that he should be able to run for a third term as president despite the fact that Burundi's constitution limits Presidents to two terms. Because Nkurunziza's first term was not decided by popular vote, he claims that his first term does not count toward his two term limit and his claim has been supported by Burundi's Constitutional Court that ruled that his first term did not count toward the two term limit due to lack of popular vote. However, the people of Burundi are urging Nkurunziza not to run for president in the June presidential elections but President Nkurunziza appears to set on running again. There have been numerous protests and the government has reacted violently to demonstrations urging the President to step down, causing nearly 70,000 people to flee Burundi for fear of political violence.

Because of the protest and violence surrounding this election, the European Union (EU) had originally offered to provide poll observers that would help ensure that the election was conducted honestly and safely. According to the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, "her team had been on the ground for more than a month" (BBC News). The team "reported that 'the election process continues to be seriously marred by restrictions on independent media, excessive use of force against demonstrators, a climate of intimidation for opposition parties and civil society and lack of confidence in the election authorities'" (BBC News). Additionally, the EU is currently withholding about $2 million which they would have been willing to put toward the election. As of now the only solution that has been placed on the table for serious consideration is postponing the election until a safer election can be conducted.

BBC News:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32923214 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32953459

- Jenn Hoffman