Burundi Bars Opposition Contenders From Running In 2025 Elections
The Burundi election commission has barred opposition individuals from running in forthcoming elections, their party informed AFP on Wednesday.
President Evariste Ndayishimiye has stated that the East African nation will hold local elections in June.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) ruled late Tuesday that candidates from the four-party Burundi for All coalition, which was recognised by the interior ministry on December 17, would be barred from running.
Candidates for the coalition would be ineligible to compete since three of its members belong to the suspended opposition party, the National Freedom Council (CNL), which violates electoral laws.
“The deputies in question are Agathon Rwasa, Euphrasie Mutenzinka and Anatole Karorero,” the CNL told AFP Wednesday.
Rejet des listes des candidats députés de la nouvelle coalition "#Burundi Bwa Bose" par la @CeniBurundi. La raison avancée est que ces listes comportent des députés siégeant à l'@nshingamateka au nom du parti @BurundiCnl dont Agathon Rwasa. pic.twitter.com/0JLZxCvVYt
— IWACU Burundi (@iwacuinfo) January 1, 2025
They also stated that the contestants were just three from one province out of five, excluded from running.
Rwasa, a presidential runner-up and former militia leader, was dismissed as CNL head in March. He filed a legal challenge against the ruling.
According to an anonymous political expert, the administration had “done everything in its power to keep Agathon Rwasa out of the electoral race”.
The move follows a December rule that states that independent candidates can only run in elections if they have not been a member of a political party for at least a year.
Furthermore, former members of a party’s governing board can only run as independent candidates after two years from their resignation or removal from the party.
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Critics claimed the decision was “tailor-made” to prevent Rwasa from running.
He finished second to Ndayishimiye in the 2020 election, which the opposition claimed was fraudulent.
Ndayishimiye has been commended for gradually overcoming years of isolationism under former President Pierre Nkurunziza’s turbulent and murderous reign.
However, Burundi’s human rights record remains poor, with regular claims of persecution targeting journalists, activists, and opposition figures.
Burundi Bars Opposition Contenders From Running In 2025 Elections
