Burundi: Democracy Dissolves, Ethnic Divides Resurface
Judge Sylvere Nimpagaritse fled Burundi, refusing to sign off on the President’s request to run for a third term. Judge Nimpagaritse is the vice-president of the constitutional court, the court that held the power to decide whether or not it was legal for President Nkurunziza to run once again.
The court is compromised of seven judges who would determine if running for a third term is constitutional. Under Burundi’s 2005 constitution, only a majority is needed to determine the constitutionality of any issue. Because six of the judges determined that it was in fact legal, President Nkurunziza will run for a third term, despite disapproval from protesters, opposition parties, and foreign leaders alike.
On Monday, May 4th 2015, Judge Nimpagaritse fled to Rwanda, but not before expressing that President Nkurunziza’s actions are “clearly not legal”. He also revealed that the judges faced, “enormous pressure and even death threats”. Initially most of the judges believed it was unconstitutional, but as a result of these threats, decided to change their minds and declare the campaign constitutional.
In article 7-3 of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi, it explicitly states that no one may serve more than two presidential terms. If President Nkurunziza gets reelected it would be in clear contradiction with the peace agreement.
The goal of the agreement was to build a democratic government that would be fair to all ethnicities. It details exactly how to elect committee members and the executive branch, even providing for checks and balances such as the installment of the constitutional court.
Despite President Nkurunziza being Hutu, the agreement appeared to have worked for most part of the last decade. It worked so well that President Nkurunziza got elected by an absolute majority of the votes cast. The peace agreement, which states that “For each three names in sequence on a list [of National Assembly Candidates], only two may belong to the same ethnic group”, underscores the importance of having a diverse government in order to prevent ethnic divisions.
Now that the President’s two terms are up, he is trying to run again by arguing that since the National Assembly and Senate initially elected him, the first term does not count. His decision to campaign demonstrates a clear disregard for the democratic process. The constitutional court should serve as a check on the executive, but because of death threats and intimidation tactics, it has been compromised. The democracy that was established is crumbling and the country fears ethnic divides will resurface.
Since President Nkurunziza’s reelection announcement, over 21,000 Burundians have fled to Rwanda for safe haven. The Tutsi Burundians feel that they must flee in order to be safe under from the Hutu political party. The Rwandan government has set up refugee camps in order to accommodate the influx of Burundians.
Burundi has been rocked with protests and violence as a result of President Nkurunziza’s candidacy for a third term. The civilian death toll has risen to 12 people and dozens more have been injured as a result of clashes with the police during demonstrations.
If the President rescinds his candidacy, there may be hope to reestablish a democratic process, but until then, protests will continue, violence will escalate, and more people will likely flee Burundi.
