Burundi president will run for third term in June, government warns protesters to stay off the streets

Source: AFP and M&G Africa Reporter

15 February 2015 - Pressure groups have called for the president to "take a lesson" from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza will bid for a third term in June elections, his spokesman said Sunday, defying campaigners who say such a move would violate the constitution and risk violence.

Nkurunziza will stand if selected to run by his ruling CNDD-FDD party “in compliance with the constitution” said spokesman Willy Nyamitwe.

The announcement follows the launch of a campaign by over 300 civil society groups earlier this month calling on Nkurunziza not to run for a third term to “prevent further violence.”

The group called for the president to “take a lesson” from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where deadly protests broke out in January over opposition fears that President Joseph Kabila was trying to extend his stay in power.

In DR Congo, the protests left more than 40 people dead, but in the end the country’s senators blocked Kabila’s bid to extend his term, at least for now.

But Nyamitwe warned that anyone seeking to spark protests would face the law.

“Whoever calls on people to take to the streets… will be considered a troublemaker and will be treated as such,” he said.

“The people of Burundi aspire to peace and [we] will not stand idly by in this case.”

In Burundi, rights groups have warned of growing fears of the risk of violence ahead of elections, with a string of attacks including a five-day battle last month between the army and rebels.

The country’s political climate remains fractious ahead of local, parliamentary and presidential polls in May and June.