AFRICA/BURUNDI - The international community has made praiseworthy efforts to restore peace and promote democracy in Burundi, now it must support development

Thursday, 7 July 2005

Bujumbura (Fides Service)- “New and promising scenes appear after the victory in the elections of the National Council for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD)” said local sources in Bujumbura, capital of Burundi after outgoing president Domitien Ndayizeye announced that the former rebel group had won in parliamentary elctions on 4 July (see Fides 4 and 5 July 2005).
According to partial but reliable results CNDD - FDD won with 58% of the votes. “The official results will be announced on July 20 followed by two days to present appeals to be examined by the Supreme Court within a week. After this the results will be definitive. But there seem to be no protests so far” the sources told Fides.
“People have voted for change and this was accepted by all parties” the sources told Fides. “The outcome has been praised by international observers who remarked on the positive role played by the army to guarantee fair and free elections and efforts made by administration personnel to solve difficulties during the voting. This is an important result for a country which is trying to recover from 10 years of civil war”.
CNDD is the political wing of the FDD which fought the government of Bujumbura for years. Although its members belong mainly to the Hutu majority ethnic group in Burundi, some belong to the Tutsi minority which used to dominate politics above all by controlling the army. “But in the electoral campaign CNDD presented itself as a national rather than an ethnic party and this opened the way for a change in Burundian politics” the source told Fides. “It should be remebered that when they formed most Burundian parties were national movements not based on ethnic origin, a characteristic they assumed only later”.
CNDD-FDD has take an active part in politics since it signed a peace agreement with the Burundian government in Pretoria (South Africa) in 2003, which gave it 40% of army officer posts and 35% of police officer posts.
“The election of a new President in August will close Burundi’s interim period. It remains to be seen if the results are accepted and if the last rebel group National Liberation Forces NLF can be brought to the negotiation table” the sources told Fides. “However CNDD said it is in contact with NLF. But the main problem is development with Burundi being years behind because the civil war absorbed all the country’s resources. Now it is time to think of the country. Let’s hope the elected executive will have the power it needs to act. The international community has made praiseworthy efforts to restore peace and promote democracy in Burundi, now it must support development”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 7/7/2005 righe 43 parole 561)


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