logo
Burundi's ruling party wins every seat in poll as rivals say democracy 'killed'

Burundi's ruling party wins every seat in poll as rivals say democracy 'killed'

Yahoo12-06-2025
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 added.
The 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 vote.
Campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the result showed that democracy had been "hollowed out" in Burundi.
It 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 harassment.
Voters, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC they doubted the ruling party had so much support at a time of dire economic hardship.
Election 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 Wednesday.
The 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 June.
Ntahorwamiye 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 large.
After 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.
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 BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Focus on Africa
This Is Africa
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Israel is in talks to possibly resettle Palestinians from Gaza in South Sudan
Israel is in talks to possibly resettle Palestinians from Gaza in South Sudan

San Francisco Chronicle​

time2 hours ago

  • San Francisco Chronicle​

Israel is in talks to possibly resettle Palestinians from Gaza in South Sudan

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel is in discussions with South Sudan about the possibility of resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the war-torn East African country, part of a wider effort by Israel to facilitate mass emigration from the territory left in ruins by its 22-month offensive against Hamas. Six people familiar with the matter confirmed the talks to The Associated Press. It's unclear how far the talks have advanced, but if implemented, the plans would amount to transferring people from one war-ravaged land at risk of famine to another, and raise human rights concerns. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to realize U.S. President Donald Trump's vision of relocating much of Gaza's population through what Netanyahu refers to as 'voluntary migration.' Israel has floated similar resettlement proposals with other African nations. 'I think that the right thing to do, even according to the laws of war as I know them, is to allow the population to leave, and then you go in with all your might against the enemy who remains there,' Netanyahu said Tuesday in an interview with i24, and Israeli TV station. He did not make reference to South Sudan. Palestinians, rights groups, and much of the international community have rejected the proposals as a blueprint for forcible expulsion in violation of international law. For South Sudan, such a deal could help it build closer ties to Israel, now the almost unchallenged military power in the Middle East. It is also a potential inroad to Trump, who broached the idea of resettling Gaza's population in February but appears to have backed away in recent months. Israel's Foreign Ministry declined to comment and South Sudan's foreign minister did not respond to questions about the talks. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said it doesn't comment on private diplomatic conversations. Joe Szlavik, the founder of a U.S. lobbying firm working with South Sudan, said he was briefed by South Sudanese officials on the talks. He said an Israeli delegation plans to visit the country to look into the possibility of setting up camps for Palestinians there. No known date has been set for the visit. Israel did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the visit. Szlavik said Israel would likely pay for makeshift camps. Edmund Yakani, who heads a South Sudanese civil society group, said he had also spoken to South Sudanese officials about the talks. Four additional officials with knowledge of the discussions confirmed talks were taking place on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them publicly. Two of the officials, both from Egypt, told AP they've known for months about Israel's efforts to find a country to accept Palestinians, including its contact with South Sudan. They said they've been lobbying South Sudan against taking the Palestinians. Egypt is deeply opposed to plans to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza, with which it shares a border, fearing an influx of refugees into its own territory. The AP previously reported on similar talks initiated by Israel and the U.S. with Sudan and Somalia, countries that are also grappling with war and hunger, and the breakaway region of Somalia known as Somaliland. The status of those discussions is not known. 'Cash-strapped South Sudan needs any ally' Szlavik, who's been hired by South Sudan to improve its relations with the United States, said the U.S. is aware of the discussions with Israel but is not directly involved. South Sudan wants the Trump administration to lift a travel ban on the country and remove sanctions from some South Sudanese elites, said Szlavik. It has already accepted eight individuals swept up in the administration's mass deportations, in what may have been an effort to curry favor. The Trump administration has pressured a number of countries to help facilitate deportations. 'Cash-strapped South Sudan needs any ally, financial gain and diplomatic security it can get,' said Peter Martell, a journalist and author of a book about the country, 'First Raise a Flag.' Israel's Mossad spy agency provided aid to the South Sudanese during their decades-long civil war against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum ahead of independence in 2011, according to the book. The State Department, asked if there was any quid pro quo with South Sudan, said decisions on the issuing of visas are made 'in a way that prioritizes upholding the highest standards for U.S. national security, public safety, and the enforcement of our immigration laws.' From one hunger-stricken conflict zone to another Many Palestinians might want to leave Gaza, at least temporarily, to escape the war and a hunger crisis bordering on famine. But they have roundly rejected any permanent resettlement from what they see as an integral part of their national homeland. They fear that Israel will never allow them to return, and that a mass departure would allow it to annex Gaza and reestablish Jewish settlements there, as called for by far-right ministers in the Israeli government. Still, even those Palestinians who want to leave are unlikely to take their chances in South Sudan, among the world's most unstable and conflict-ridden countries. South Sudan has struggled to recover from a civil war that broke out after independence, and which killed nearly 400,000 people and plunged pockets of the country into famine. The oil-rich country is plagued by corruption and relies on international aid to help feed its 11 million people – a challenge that has only grown since the Trump administration made sweeping cuts to foreign assistance. A peace deal reached seven years ago has been fragile and incomplete, and the threat of war returned when the main opposition leader was placed under house arrest this year. Palestinians in particular could find themselves unwelcome. The long war for independence from Sudan pitted the mostly Christian and animist south against the predominantly Arab and Muslim north. Yakani, of the civil society group, said South Sudanese would need to know who is coming and how long they plan to stay, or there could be hostilities due to the 'historical issues with Muslims and Arabs.' 'South Sudan should not become a dumping ground for people,' he said. 'And it should not accept to take people as negotiating chips to improve relations.'

UN condemns deadly attack on famine-hit camp in Darfur that killed 40

time3 hours ago

UN condemns deadly attack on famine-hit camp in Darfur that killed 40

CAIRO -- The United Nations on Tuesday condemned an attack by a paramilitary group on a famine-hit displacement camp in Sudan's western region of Darfur, killing at least 40 people. Monday's attack by the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, on the Abu Shouk camp outside el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, also wounded 19 others, according to the Emergency Response Rooms, an activist group that tracks Sudan's civil war. 'Once again, civilians are paying the highest price in this conflict,' Sheldon Yett, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said in a statement. 'Displacement camps and other places of refuge for civilians must not be targeted.' Abu-Shouk is one of two camps for displaced people outside el-Fasher, the military's last stronghold in Darfur. They have repeatedly been attacked by the RSF, including a major offensive in April that killed hundreds of people and forced hundreds of thousands of others to flee. Both the Abu Shouk and Zamzam camps have been hit by famine. The attack came as the RSF imposed a blockade on el-Fasher as they continued their yearlong attempt to seize it. On Monday, the military and its allies rebel groups repelled a major RSF offensive on the city. Yett said that the RSF siege and attacks have left el-Fasher's population 'with extremely limited access to food, safe water and medical care.' More than 60 people reportedly died of malnutrition in one week in an 'extremely worrying' development, he said. The World Food Program hasn't been able to deliver aid by land to el-Fasher for more than a year. The U.N. agency warned this month that 300,000 people who are 'trapped, hungry, and running out of time,' face starvation. 'Everyone in el-Fasher is facing a daily struggle to survive,' said Eric Perdison, WFP's regional director for eastern and southern Africa. 'People's coping mechanisms have been completely exhausted by over two years of war. Without immediate and sustained access, lives will be lost.' The attack on Abu Shouk was the latest tragedy in Sudan's civil war, which pits the military against the RSF. The war broke out in April 2023 over power struggle between commanders of the warring sides. The fighting has devastated the northeastern African country, forcing about 14 million people out of their homes, and pushing some areas into famine. Thousands of people were killed in the conflict that has been marked with atrocities, including mass killings and rape, particularly in Darfur. The International Criminal Court is investigating potential crimes against humanity in the conflict.

Macron admits to France's 'repressive violence' during Cameroon's push for independence
Macron admits to France's 'repressive violence' during Cameroon's push for independence

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Macron admits to France's 'repressive violence' during Cameroon's push for independence

French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged France's role in "repressive violence" during Cameroon's push for independence in a letter to the country's president made public on Tuesday. The acknowledgement follows a French government report from January that detailed mass displacement and brutal crackdowns, notably in the 1950s. In a letter to Cameroonian President Paul Biya made public by the French presidency on Tuesday, Macron acknowledged that France waged a "war" against independence efforts in Cameroon that was marked by "repressive violence" in the years after World War II. Sent to Biya last month, Macron's letter follows an officially commissioned report published in January that found France had implemented mass forced displacement, pushed hundreds of thousands of Cameroonians into internment camps and supported brutal militias to squash the central African country's push for sovereignty. "The historians of the commission made it very clear that there was a war in Cameroon, during which the colonial authorities and the French army carried out repressive violence of several kinds in certain parts of the country in a war that continued after 1960 when France supported the actions carried out by the independent Cameroon authorities," Macron said in the letter. "It is incumbent on me today to accept France's role and responsibility in these events," he wrote. Read more1960: A wave of independence sweeps across Africa Setting the historical record straight Macron announced the creation of a historical commission during a 2022 trip to the Cameroonian capital Yaounde. Composed of both French and Cameroonian historians, the 14-person committee looked into France's role in the country between 1945 and 1971 based on declassified archives, eyewitness accounts and field surveys. Most of Cameroon came under French rule in 1918 after the defeat of its previous colonial ruler, Germany, during World War I. But a brutal conflict unfolded when the country began pushing for its independence following World War II, a move France repressed violently, according to the report's findings. Between 1956 and 1961, France's fight against Cameroonian independence claimed "tens of thousands of lives" and left hundreds of thousands displaced, the historians said. For many in France, the war in Cameroon went unnoticed because it mainly involved troops from colonies in Africa and was overshadowed by the French fight during Algeria's 1954-1962 war of independence. Even after Cameroon gained independence in 1960, Paris remained deeply involved in its governance, working closely with the "authoritarian and autocratic" government of Ahmadou Ahidjo, who stayed in power until 1982. Read moreCameroon's Paul Biya: World's oldest president is the favourite as he seeks an eighth term Biya, who has been in office since that year, is only the second president in Cameroon's history. At age 92 and already the world's oldest head of state, Biya will seek an eighth term in office in a presidential election in October. Cameroon's opposition is struggling to challenge Biya, who has been accused by groups such as Human Rights Watch of suppressing opponents. Cameroon's constitutional court last week rejected the candidacy of opposition leader Maurice Kamto, Biya's main opponent, in a decision Kamto called "arbitrary". Macron said that France would facilitate access to its archives so that researchers could build on the commission's findings. He also suggested the creation of a bilateral "working group" to help monitor progress in ongoing research and education. Macron has taken tentative steps to come to terms with once-taboo aspects of France's historical record, though many argue he has not gone far enough. A 2021 report concluded France bore "overwhelming responsibilities" in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and a 2020 review examining France's actions during Algeria's war of independence called for a "truth commission" and other conciliatory actions. Macron has, however, ruled out any official apology for torture and other abuses carried out by French troops in Algeria. (FRANCE 24 with AFP)

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store