Latest news with #ProsperNtahorwamiye
Saudi Gazette
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Burundi's ruling party wins every seat in poll as rivals say democracy 'killed'
NAIROBI — 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. Election observers from the Catholic Church were turned away from some polling centers, according to HRW. The African Union meanwhile has been criticized 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. — BBC
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Burundi's ruling party wins every seat in poll as rivals say 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 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. 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 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
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Burundi's ruling party wins every seat in poll as rivals say 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 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 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
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Burundi Ruling Party Wins All Seats in National Assembly
Burundi's ruling party won all 108 seats in the national assembly following an election. Three indigenous lawmakers obtained seats to fulfill so-called ethnic equilibrium, taking the total allocated to 111, National Election Commission President Prosper Ntahorwamiye said Wednesday.
France 24
2 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Burundi's ruling party wins all seats in parliamentary vote as opposition cries foul
Burundi 's veteran ruling party won every seat in last week's parliamentary elections, the electoral commission said Wednesday, in a vote critics and observers say was tainted by irregularities. "Nationally, the CNDD-FDD came first with 96.51 percent of the vote," election commission chief Prosper Ntahorwamiye said in a live televised ceremony. None of the other parties obtained two percent of the votes – the constitutional threshold to sit in the National Assembly – "so all 100 seats go to the CNDD-FDD", he added. The final results of last Thursday's poll are due to be announced by the Constitutional Council on June 20. Members of the National Congress for Liberty (CNL), the main opposition party which was barred from the vote, alleged multiple and forced voting, as well as "banned access" and the "arbitrary imprisonment" of its observers. Anicet Niyonkuru, a legislative candidate and leader of the smaller opposition Council of Patriots party, told AFP that voters put pre-filled ballots in the ballot box, calling it "a major fraud that was seen everywhere". Olivier Nkurunziza, the leader of the Uprona opposition party which received just 1.38 percent of the vote, said the elections were "rigged". The Uprona party "denounces rigged elections", Nkurunziza told AFP adding: "We have killed democracy." He said the CNDD-FDD had won 100 percent of the vote in some districts, with no invalid ballots, abstentions or absentees, despite Uprona fielding at least 50 candidates in each area. Journalists and voters who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons also told AFP of significant irregularities. Poverty President Evariste Ndayishimiye took power in June 2020 after the death of his predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza, who had ruled Burundi with an iron fist for 15 years. Since taking office, he has swung between gestures of openness and a firm grip on power, with rights abuses denounced by NGOs and the UN. His party, the CNDD-FDD, was accused of hobbling its main adversary the CNL, which came second in the last elections in 2020. At the time, the CNL called the vote a "farce". In 2023, Burundi's interior minister suspended the CNL citing "irregularities" in the way it organised In 2024, Agathon Rwasa – a former Hutu rebel leader against the Tutsi-dominated army during the civil war which left some 300,000 dead between 1993 and 2005 – was replaced as head of the CNL and replaced by Nestor Girukwishaka, who is said to be close to the ruling party. Burundi ranks as the world's poorest country in GDP per capita, according to the World Bank 's 2023 index, with 75 percent of its 12 million people living below the poverty line. One Burundian analyst, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, told AFP the country is facing "a very deep socio-economic crisis marked by all sorts of shortages, galloping inflation of more than 40 percent a month and increasing public discontent". Burundi has been paralysed notably by a severe petrol shortage for nearly three years.
