Parliamentary polls kick off in Burundi despite tense weekend

Burundi's controversial parliamentary and communal representatives elections kicked off early Monday morning despite a tense weekend of shelling in some parts of Bujumbura as well as the country's National Assembly speaker announcing that he had fled the country.

Pie Nitavyohanyuma announced Sunday that he had left Burundi for Belgium and called on president Pierre Nkurunziza to step down.

“It is never too late for president Nkurunziza to step down he must think of it, the seeking of another term is unconstitutional and it was very clear,” he said from Belgium, where he met Burundi's second vice president Gervais Rufyikiri who had also fled earlier last week.

READ: Second VP defects, flees to Belgium

Burundi's opposition has boycotted the poll citing the government’s failure to postpone the poll as the East African Community (EAC) and the African Union (AU) had recommended.

The AU became the latest body to withdraw its observer mission in the Burundi's electoral process after the European Union (EU).

The newly appointed UN inter-Burundi dialogue facilitator, Abdoulaye Bathily, said that after four days of dialogue, only the opposition had agreed on the postponement of elections as a conditions to hold free and fair polls.

“Our role is to facilitate not to impose any view. It was necessary to postpone the elections for one month as EAC and AU recommended. However, the Burundian government were not able to accept any postponement,” he said.

“We have made a report and we will be sending it to the (UN) secretary general; And with no dialogue, the country could be at the brink of getting back to instability,” he added.

READ: Burundi govt, opposition clash over local, parliamentary polls

Fear

However there is fear among many Burundians around Bujumbura even as they went to the polling stations to cast their votes.

“I am not going to vote right now because many others are not going so I will have to wait and see if I see there is big number of voters then I will go as well,” said a cyclist in Bujumbura.

After over an hour of opening, an electoral commission official said that at least 20 people had turned out at the polling station in Jabe, one of the areas most affected by protests and shelling over the weekend.

Two people were killed Saturday night after heavy gunfire in the Jabe suburb.

“The attacks were carried out by some groups of criminals in communes. A man who was trying to detonate a grenade failed and the same grenade exploded and killed him. What we understand is that these are attacks in areas where protests have been happening,” Burundi's deputy police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye told The EastAfrican.

Mr Nkurukiye said that at least 6 police men were injured in the weekend attacks.

In another suburb (Nyakabiga), protests were observed late on Saturday night when residents took to the streets blowing whistles while police and unknown armed groups exchanged gunfire.

“we have decided to protest because the Imbonerakure want to carry out surprise attacks in our areas while wearing uniforms,” said one of the protesters in Nyakabiga.

People have continued to flee to neighbouring countries for fear of insecurity. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, one hundred and twenty seven thousand Burundians have been registered in neighbouring camps, with 62,000 in Tanzania, 45,000 in Rwanda, 10,590 in DR Congo, 8,855 in Uganda and 400 in Zambia.

Key dates, events

Here are the key dates and events leading up to Monday's vote.

April 26, 2015: Police clash with protesters in several parts of the capital, a day after Nkurunziza is declared candidate for a third term in office by his ruling CNDD-FDD. Police fire guns as well as tear gas and water cannons to prevent thousands of youths from marching to the city centre.
Demonstrators are shot dead in clashes with police, others are killed in alleged attacks by ruling party militia.

April 27: Police arrest leading human rights activist Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa and hold him for 30 hours. Other rights leaders go into hiding.

May 5: The Constitutional Court clears Nkurunziza to run for a third term. The judgement, signed by six out of seven judges, comes hours after the court's vice-president fled the country after refusing to sign the judgement, claiming judges had been subjected to death threats.

May 9: The government orders protesters to "immediately and unconditionally" end the protests and orders all barricades to be removed within 48 hours. Demands are ignored.

May 13: A top Burundian general, Godefroid Niyombare announces the overthrow of Nkurunziza, hours after the president left for neighbouring Tanzania for talks with regional leaders on ending the crisis.

May 15: Coup leaders announce that they are surrendering, before being arrested by loyalist forces. Niyombare avoids capture and goes on the run, according to the government. Nkurunziza returns to the presidential palace in the capital.

May 22: Attackers hurl grenades into a crowd in Bujumbura, killing three people, in the first such acts to apparently deliberately target a civilian crowd.

May 23: The leader of a small opposition party, Zedi Feruzi, is shot dead.

May 31: East African nations call for the elections to be delayed by at least a month and a half.

June 9: A government spokesman says Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term is "non-negotiable".

June 22: More grenade attacks kill four people and wound around 30, with the government and opposition groups trading blame for the blasts.

June 25: The country's second vice president seeks refuge in Belgium after urging Nkurunziza to step down, and fleeing the country. Around 200 students break into the US embassy after police threaten to break up their camp outside the compound.

June 26: Opposition parties announce they will boycott the upcoming elections, saying it is not possible to hold a fair vote following weeks of violence. Civil society groups back the boycott. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says elections should be postponed, but Burundi refuses.

June 27: Election material is torched and grenades explode in Bujumbura, the latest in a string of attacks.

June 28: The national electoral commission says all voting material is ready and has been delivered. Parliament head Pie Ntavyohanyuma said he had fled to Belgium denouncing the president's "illegal" third term bid. The African Union says it will not act as observer in the elections over fears the polls are not credible.