CIAO DATE: 02/2011
February 2011
Six months after a string of landslide electoral victories by the ruling Conseil National pour la Défense de la Démocratie et Forces de Défense de la Démocratie (CNDD-FDD), Burundi is descending ever deeper into a political impasse that risks reversing a decade’s progress. Instead of strengthening democracy, the 2010 communal, parliamentary and presidential elections ended in the marginalisation of the opposition – a major element of which (the Forces Nationales de Libération, FNL) went underground – and in the emergence of a new rebellion. Combined with a weak governance system, this could lead to a democratic setback. Only resumption of political dialogue between government and opposition, the end of the FNL’s clandestine activities and the strengthening of democratic institutions can reverse the dangerous trend. The international community must encourage these steps before it is too late. After the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) announced in May 2010 the CNDD-FDD had received 64 per cent of the vote in the local elections, the opposition parties, which had been confident of victory, denounced “massive electoral fraud”. However, all national and international observers, the media and civil society recognised the vote as free and fair, despite some irregularities. The opposition responded by forming a coalition (l’Alliance des Démocrates pour le Changement au Burundi, ADC-Ikibiri) and said further involvement in the electoral process depended on dismissal of the CENI and cancellation of the local election. When their demands were rejected, most boycotted the remaining elections, resulting in overwhelming victories for the ruling party – 91 per cent of the vote in the presidential contest and 81 per cent and 94 per cent respectively in those for the lower and upper houses of the legislature – which thereby consolidated its control over all state institutions.
Resource link: Burundi: du boycott électoral à l'impasse politique [PDF] - 834K