BURUNDI: Electoral commission's proposal to postpone elections is rejected

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

KAMPALA, 16 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma rejected on Tuesday a proposal from Burundi's electoral commission to postpone the country's final round of elections by two months, a senior Ugandan government official told IRIN.

Museveni, who is chairman of the regional initiative on Burundi, and Zuma, facilitator of the Burundi peace process, met the head of the Burundian Independent Election Commission (IEC) Paul Ngarambe, in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. He briefed them on progress made so far, including the recent referendum on a new constitution, as well as on preparations being made for forthcoming elections.

The deadline for the next poll had been 22 April 2005. A senior official in the Ugandan government, who asked to remain anonymous, said that IEC officials had wanted the next poll to be delayed because they felt that laws required to organise voting more efficiently were not yet in place.

However, the Ugandan official, who is close to Museveni, told IRIN that because Februarys referendum was held so successfully under the existing electoral laws of 1993, "it was concluded that what they have in place is sufficient for these [next] elections."

"They were told that they should not use legalistic excuses to delay the elections, and that they have no mandate to postpone the election because these dates were set by the region," said IRINs source. "The main aim is to pacify Burundi, and this can only be achieved by holding elections as scheduled," he added.

The Ugandan official also noted that some Burundian politicians wanted the elections postponed, and were coming up with many reasons to do so. But, he said, "The electoral [commission] was urged [by Museveni and Zuma] not to be swayed by these politicians, who would not like these elections taking place anyway."

Another official, in the foreign ministry, confirmed to IRIN that the purpose of the meeting was to make sure that elections were held as scheduled, so a new government could take over in the capital, Bujumbura. "The region does not want any delay. The meeting had to make sure that elections are held and a new government [is] installed in Burundi," he said.

State House released a statement saying that Zuma and Museveni had "pledged to ensure that existing legal, security and logistical deficiencies towards speedy, efficient and democratic elections in Burundi are eliminated".

It added that the referendum was the first in "a series of electoral processes that will culminate in [the] election of a president, in order to end 12 years of ethnic strife between the Hutu and Tutsi communities."

On February 28, citizens in the small central African country moved a step closer to ending a brutal 11-year civil war that has claimed 300,000 lives, by voting overwhelmingly in favour of a new constitution.

Following the approval of the new constitution, which would enshrine a power-sharing agreement between minority Tutsis and majority Hutus, Burundi will hold six different elections in coming months. If successful, Burundians could put behind them a devastating civil war, triggered by the assassination in 1993 of the first elected Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye.

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