Media Monitoring - OSESG-GL, 22 JULY 2015

RWANDA

Rwanda launches national consultation on President Kagame's third term bid

NEWS STORY

Source: International Business Times

21 July 2015 - The Rwandan government has launched a national consultation on the possibility of changing the constitution to allow President Paul Kagame to run for a third term.

The move was made after some 3.6 million Rwandans – about 70% of those on the electoral roll – are believed to have signed a petition asking the parliament to scrap presidential terms and allow Kagame to run in the 2017 presidential election.

The consultation will end on 1 August and will determine whether the parliament – which already voted in favour of changing the constitution earlier in July – will go ahead and amend article 101, which states the Rwanda's president can only be in power for a maximum of two seven-year terms.

"All lawmakers will go to consult with the population... to ask them their opinion about the amendment – what they expect from this reform," parliamentary speaker Donatilla Mukabalisa told news agency AFP.

Some have warned that most petitioners were forced to sign and those who oppose to the changes are being persecuted. It has been also pointed out that article 193 concerning amendments of the constitution does not allow the number of terms to be changed, but only their lengths.

In an interview with IBTimes UK, human rights activist Rene Mugenzi said the parliament's decision to allow a third term is a "confirmation of a totalitarism pathway that [Kagame] has taken in Rwanda in the last 20 years."

When contacted by IBTimes UK, ruling party Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) denied the allegations that the public were forced to sign the petition.

RPF's vice president Christophe Bazivamo said: "I think it is not possible to force 3.6 million people to sign a petition. People who have signed were actually happy to do so. It's not possible to force people to sign and to also make them happy.

"The population signed the petition because of facts. We achieved goals when it comes to child and maternal mortality. When it comes to security and social economic development, from 1994 until now, the situation has improved."

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BURUNDI

Burundi Starts Counting Votes in Disputed Presidential Election

NEWS STORY

Source: Bloomberg Business

21 July 2015 - Burundi began counting ballots in a presidential election that the U.S. and U.K. said lacked credibility given the political violence and voter intimidation.

Polling stations closed at 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday in relative calm after a night of gunfire and explosions that left at least two people dead in the capital, Bujumbura. The results will be known in days, the country’s electoral chief, Pierre Claver Ndayicariye, said on state radio. Voter turnout was low in Bujumbura and higher in many rural areas, he said.

President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term in April triggered protests that led to clashes with security forces. The violence left 77 people dead, drove about 170,000 from their homes and sparked a failed military coup.

Critics of Nkurunziza argue that he’s violating a two-term limit set out in a 2005 peace accord that ended a 12-year civil war, in which 300,000 people were killed. His supporters say the 51-year-old’s first term doesn’t count because he was chosen by parliament rather than popularly elected.

The unrest in Burundi has the potential to destabilize the Great Lakes region that includes the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s top copper and tin producer, and Rwanda, which had a genocide in 1994. Civil wars in the early 1990s in Burundi and Rwanda set the stage for conflict in neighboring Congo, the deadliest war in Africa’s modern history.

Harassment, Intimidation

The U.S. said Burundi’s presidential elections will not be credible and it’s considering sanctions, including visa restrictions, on anyone responsible or complicit in using violence to create instability in the East African country.

“The legitimacy of the electoral process in Burundi over the past few months has been tainted by the government’s harassment of opposition and civil society members, closing down of media outlets and political space, and intimidation of voters,” U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement on Tuesday.

The U.K. Minister for Africa, Grant Shapps, said in a statement the country risks undoing the gains of the past years since the end of the civil war.

“The Burundian government has failed to ensure the necessary conditions for credible, inclusive and peaceful elections,” Shapps said in the e-mailed statement. “I therefore do not consider these elections legitimate.”

A second vice president is among a number of officials who have fled the country in the past few months after allegedly being threatened for criticizing the government. At least four of Nkurunziza’s eight opponents in the vote, including the main opposition leader Agathon Rwasa, withdrew their candidacy, citing a lack of freedom to campaign. The electoral commission said the names of opposition candidates are still on the ballot and their votes will be tallied in the official count.

The UN said earlier this month that Burundi’s parliamentary elections held on June 29 weren’t free or fair.

Burundi’s controversial presidential poll attracts low turnout

NEWS STORY

Source: APA

21 July 2015 - Burundi voted Tuesday with low turnout as few queues could be seen at the entrances of polling stations, APA noted early Tuesday afternoon in Bujumbura.Few people took to the voting centers to cast their vote as was the case during the recently held local and legislative polls whose turnout stood at 28 percent.

Some local observers, NGOs and members of UN Observation Mission could be seen here and there.

The observers dispatched by International Conference of the Great Lakes Region and South Africa were also present to monitor the exercise.

The journalists deployed in the country’s inner localities reported no major incidents. However, they reported the presence in the polling stations of only the representative of the ruling majority party.

The candidates in competition with incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza are Jacques Bigirimana FNL, Jean de Dieu Mutabazi COPA coalition and Gerard Nduwayo UPRONA party.

The radical opposition boycotted the election on the ground that its participation would legitimize the candidacy of the incumbent president.Burundi has been rocked by unrest since April when the ruling party announced Nkurunziza would run for a third term.

More than 100 people have died in street protests against the president’s bid to extend his time in power.

Burundi Seeks Praise, Not Condemnation, For Holding Election

NEWS STORY

Source: VOA

By James Butty

22 July 2015 - Burundi’s government thanked voters who participated in Tuesday’s presidential election, calling the vote peaceful, free and fair despite pre-election violence, an opposition boycott and international condemnation.

The United States Tuesday said the election could not be considered credible because the process was tainted by government harassment of the opposition and civil society members, the closing down of media outlets and intimidation of voters.

A U.S. spokesman warned the election risks unraveling the Arusha Agreement, which limits a president to two terms in office.

Willy Nyamitwe, senior advisor on media and communication to President Pierre Nkurunziza, said the government should be congratulated, not condemned, for holding the election. He said some countries do not even hold elections.

“In some other countries of the world, people are complaining saying that the governments are not organizing elections on time. But, here in Burundi, the government took the responsibility to organize election. So, I think we should be congratulated, not condemned,” he said.

Nyamitwe said the Burundian government could not have postponed Tuesday’s election beyond the constitutional limit.

Critics said Nkurunziza’s third term bid violates the constitution, but Burundi’s constitutional court ruled he is eligible because the first time he was elected it was by parliament, not the voters.

Nyamitwe blamed the opposition for pre-election violence, which he said was intended to intimate Burundians from voting.

“As you know, there are some opposition leaders who called on Burundians not to vote. So, since people wanted to vote, some others were just shooting to intimidate them. So, who’s responsible? Everybody knows its leaders of the opposition and some civil society activists who told the Burundians to refuse anything that comes from the government,” he said.

The African Union did not send observers, saying the election was not going to be free and fair.

Nyamitwe denied the government refused to give visas to an AU delegation, saying the organization should blame itself because it failed to submit its application on time.

“The government of Burundi gave them some small conditions for getting their visas. When they failed to drop their files to the embassy of Burundi to seek the visas, they cannot blame the Burundian government. They have to blame themselves,” Nyamitwe said.

Polls Close in Burundi Election as President Seeks 3rd Term

NEWS STORY

Source: AP

Bujumbura, 21 July 2015 - Overnight gunfire and explosions kept turnout low Tuesday in Burundi's presidential election, with three people killed in unrest over President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term that his opponents say is unconstitutional.

Turnout was low in the capital, Bujumbura, and one province but 16 other provinces had a good level of voters, said the head of Burundi's electoral commission Claver Ndayicariye. Results are expected in two days, he said.

With some of the opposition boycotting the election and others charging that they were not allowed to campaign, Nkurunziza, 51, is not facing a strong electoral challenge.

The U.S. State Department warned Tuesday that the election is not credible.

"The legitimacy of the electoral process in Burundi over the past few months has been tainted by the government's harassment of opposition and civil society members, closing down of media outlets and political space, and intimidation of voters," U.S. State Department Spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

The U.S. is considering sanctions, including visa bans for those found responsible in the promotion of instability in the country, he said.

Many fear that Burundi's election may provoke widespread violence. Since independence from Belgium in 1961, Burundi has had four coups and a civil war that an estimated 250,000 dead. Kirby said the "fragile progress" made since the end of the civil war in 2006 is at risk of unraveling. The British government also issued a statement saying the poll is "discredited."

Burundi has been rocked by unrest since April when the ruling party announced Nkurunziza would run for a third term. More than 100 people have died in street protests against the president's bid to extend his time in power. The strife triggered an attempted military coup in mid-May that was quickly put down by pro-Nkurunziza forces.

Two policemen were shot dead in the capital Monday night, said Willy Nyamitwe, the presidential adviser for information and media. The body of an opposition official was found on a road Tuesday morning. The opposition and the government blame each other for the overnight violence.

At least 170,000 refugees have fled the country fearing electoral violence, said the U.N. refugee agency. Nkurunziza's critics including his second vice-president, the deputy president of the Constitutional Court and the vice-chairwoman of the electoral commission are among dozens who have gone to exile alleging death threats.

Among the few people who voted in opposition areas of the capital, Bujumbura, many tried to wipe off the indelible ink on their fingers fearing reprisals from opposition supporters.

Unlike the capital city, a high turn-out was reported in Nkurunziza's hometown of Ngozi in northern Burundi where the president voted, riding up to the polling station on a bicycle.

Opponents say Nkurunziza must retire because the constitution limits the president to two terms. But the president's supporters say he is eligible for a third term because he was chosen by lawmakers — and not popularly elected — for his first term in 2005.

Two killed as blasts, gunfire rock Burundi presidential vote

NEWS STORY

Source: Reuters

By Clement Manirabarusha and Edmund Blair

Bujumbura, 21 July 2015 - A policeman and civilian were killed in clashes hours before the start of Burundi's presidential elections, already hit by opposition boycotts and protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term.

Blasts and gunfire echoed around the capital before polling stations opened on Tuesday in a nation grappling with its worst crisis since a civil war ended in 2005. It has faced weeks of demonstrations, a failed coup and clashes between rebel soldiers and the army.

Opponents accuse Nkurunziza of violating the constitution by seeking another five years in office. Western donors and African states, worried about tensions in a region with a history of ethnic conflict, urged Burundi to postpone the poll.

Nkurunziza cites a court ruling saying he can run again. The government said they had already delayed the vote as long as they could and promised a fair poll.

Voting began in rural areas and dozens queued to cast ballots in areas of Bujumbura that are strongholds of Nkurunziza supporters. But there were only trickles of voters in other districts of the capital and some polling stations stayed closed after the official 6 a.m. start.

Presidential adviser Willy Nyamitwe blamed opponents and those behind protests for overnight violence, saying a policeman and civilian were killed. "People do it to intimidate voters. They don't want the voters to go to the polls," he told Reuters.

A Reuters witness saw one dead civilian man with no obvious injuries on the ground in the Niyakabiga district of the city.

Nkurunziza cycled to a polling station in his northern home village of Buye and queued to cast his ballot, before pedalling off. Onlookers applauded.

One 40-year-old voter in Bujumbura, Ferdinand, said he would vote for Nkurunziza, a soccer fan who is often pictured rolling up his sleeves to work with people in the fields, because he had "a good programme of development for ordinary citizens."

"We need change. We need new blood," said Wilson, a mechanic in Bujumbura who did not give his full name. He added that he would not vote because Nkurunziza's rivals were not running.
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