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France 24
05-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
African Union criticised for calling Burundi election 'credible'
The Peace and Security Council of the African Union said on X that it had reviewed elections for the past six months and "congratulated Burundi, Comoros and Gabon on holding credible elections". Burundi's ruling party of President Evariste Ndayishimiye won every seat in parliament in last month's vote, with 96 percent of the vote. Rights groups, the Catholic Church and the opposition all said there were serious irregularities, pointing out that key opponents of the ruling party had effectively been barred from running. "It is distressing to see the African Union give (Burundi's election commission) a free pass... when the Catholic Church, which had the most electoral observers, identified numerous irregularities," said the official. The senior official with the opposition Uprona party spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals. "We ourselves noted serious irregularities, sometimes very blatant, such as ballot boxes stuffed even before the polling stations opened, and on an unprecedented scale," he added. "The AU is losing what little credibility it had in terms of election observation, which is not surprising because it is, as some say, a union of heads of state who protect each other," said the official. Human Rights Watch said the ruling party had "intimidated, harassed and threatened" voters and described the election as "devoid of genuine political competition". The Catholic Church, the dominant denomination in the country, said in a statement it had observed "suspicious ballot stuffing" and officials forcing voters "to cast their vote in a particular way". Burundi ranks as the world's poorest country in GDP per capita, according to the World Bank's 2023 index.
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Burundi elections: One-party parliament looms as opposition says democracy 'killed'
The ruling party in Burundi has won all 100 seats in a parliamentary election that the opposition says has "killed" democracy in the central African state. Giving the provisional results for last week's poll, electoral commission head Prosper Ntahorwamiye said the CNDD-FDD party secured more than 96% of votes in all provinces. The election had seen only "some minor irregularities", he opposition Uprona party came second with a little over 1% of the vote. The party denounced the election as rigged, with its leader Olivier Nkurunziza telling the AFP news agency: "We have killed democracy." The main opposition party, the National Congress for Liberty (CNL), fell into third spot, getting only 0.6% of the group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the result showed that democracy had "been hollowed out" in added that the CNDD-FDD, in power since 2005, "sought to dismantle all meaningful opposition", including from its biggest rival, the CNL. Freedom of expression is limited in Burundi and critics say these polls followed a prolonged campaign of intimidation and speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC they doubted the ruling party had so much support at a time of dire economic observers from the Catholic Church were turned away from some polling centres, according to HRW. The African Union meanwhile has been criticised for praising the "climate of freedom and transparency" of the polls, which it declared were "peaceful".Correspondents say there was little sign of celebrations in the main city of Bujumbura after the provisional results were announced on electoral commission said the results would be submitted to the Constitutional Court, which has to then certify them and provide the final results by 20 said there were "some minor irregularities - shortcomings that came about which have been resolved - because as you know, nothing is completely perfect".In line with the Arusha Accords that brought an end to the bitter Burundian civil war more than two decades ago, the ethnic composition of the country's parliament has to mirror the proportions of Hutus, Tutsis and Twa people in the population at this month's vote count, the electoral commission announced that an additional 11 seats were to be created and filled to remedy an imbalance - which will bring the total number of MPs to 111. More BBC stories on Burundi: Rwanda planning to attack Burundi, president tells BBC'Mpox made my throat so painful I couldn't sleep'Burundi leader to get $530,000 and luxury villa Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
