BUJUMBURA,
Burundi
Burundi’s
opposition CNL on Sunday picked the current chairman of the National Assembly
as its candidate in the presidential election in May which the United Nations
says is likely to be marred by violence.
 |
| Burundi opposition leader Agathon Rwasa |
A former rebel leader, Agathon Rwasa, 56, fought in
Burundi’s civil war, as did current President Pierre Nkurunziza, who will not
seek re-election in the May poll. Like the president, he also comes from the
northern Burundi province of Ngozi and the same ethnic group, the Hutu.
Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the
world and lost donor funding in 2015 after political violence that followed the
elections.
The tiny East African nation is struggling to come
to terms with a violent past, characterized by colonial occupation, civil war
and decades of intermittent massacres.
The population is divided between the Tutsi and
Hutu ethnic groups. Some 300,000 people were killed in the civil war which
ended in 2005.
Rwasa denounced what he said were plans by the
ruling party to rig the election.
“As we are approaching elections, it’s surprising
to hear that there are people thinking about rigging elections... Burundians
will not let them do it,” he told delegates of his party after his appointment
was announced.
In January the ruling party, the CNDD-FDD, chose as
its candidate its secretary general, Evariste Ndayishimiye, a retired army
general who also heads the department of military affairs in the president’s
office and has served as minister of the interior and security.
The government could not be reached for comment on
the accusations of plans to rig the vote.
The United Nations has warned that human rights
abuses might increase again ahead of the elections. Since 2015, when Nkurunziza
ran for a third, disputed term in office, hundreds of Burundians have been
killed in clashes with security forces.
The UN also denounced serious human rights
violations, including killings, disappearances, torture and gang rape of
alleged political opponents, perpetrated by the police, security forces and the
ruling party’s youth league, the Imbonerakure.
The government condemned and denied the
accusations. - Africa
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