Third term for Burundi president opposed
Police use force to break protest rallies in the capital
Police fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters rallying in Burundi’s capital yesterday against the president’s decision to run for a third term, a move critics say violates the constitution.
“The fight continues,” crowds shouted as about 200 people gathered in Bujumbura’s Musaga district on the second day of demonstrations. Protesters massed in other parts of the city and tyres burnt in the streets.
Police slapped and kicked prominent activist Pierre Claver Mbonimpa as they arrested him after he appeared on a live radio programme, according to a Reuters witness. Officers then raided and shut down the Radio Broadcasters’ Association studio that had broadcast the show.
President Pierre Nkurunziza’s announcement on Saturday that he would run in the June 26 election triggered unrest in the east African nation that emerged from an ethnically fuelled civil war in 2005. Activists say Nkurunziza broke the constitution and the Arusha peace agreement that ended the civil war, both documents which limit the president to two five-year terms.
Nkurunziza’s supporters say his first term does not count as he was picked by lawmakers, not elected.
The tensions have sent thousands of people fleeing across the border to Rwanda and created fresh turmoil in a region where other presidents, including Joseph Kabila in Democratic Republic of Congo, are nearing presidential term limits.
A Reuters witness said the army had been deployed on the streets and now outnumbered police.
One army officer was seen stopping police firing tear gas.
“Don’t use violence. If anything worse happens, you will be responsible for that,” the military officer said.
Protesters blocked roads with burning tyres and large stones, while police appeared to be trying to keep protesters contained in different neighbourhoods to stop them converging on the city centre.