Agreement on negotiations, not intervention in Burundi

ALL Burundian political party leaders who met President Jacob Zuma and other members of an AU high level panel in Bujumbura yesterday agreed an AU military intervention force was unnecessary.

International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana- Mashabane, who attended, said the parties stressed instead the importance of political dialogue to resolve the country’s crisis.

She was speaking at a joint press conference with her EU counterpart Federica Mogherini after a regular political dialogue between their two governments here.

The AU Peace and Security Council decided in December to deploy a 5 000 strong peacekeeping force called Maprobu into Burundi to stem the bloodshed and bolster peace talks.

But at last month’s AU summit, the continent’s leaders could not agree on the deployment of this force, mainly because Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza opposed it.

The AU leaders decided instead to dispatch a panel comprising the leaders of South Africa, Ethiopia, Senegal, Gabon and Mauritania, to try to persuade Nkurunziza to accept the force and to kickstart the stalled peace talks.

Nkoana-Mashabane said not only political parties, but also representatives of civil society, were present in the meeting. Although she did not detail which political parties were present, it seems likely many were not as their leaders are in exile.

This includes not only armed groups, but also some unarmed opposition parties.

Mogherini said the EU was looking “with extreme atten- tion and hope” at Zuma’s AU mission to Burundi, hoping it would make progress towards resolving the crisis.

She noted the EU was in discussion with Burundi about suspending its EU aid because of its breach of commitments to respect human rights and the rule of law.

To Nkoana- Mashabane’s request for EU support for the AU peacemaking efforts, she said the EU would do what it could to help.

Nkoana- Mashabane also dismissed suggestions the AU had blundered and shown weakness by first agreeing to deploy the peacekeeping force Maprobu and then backing off when Burundi rejected it.

“This is a major contribution to de-escalating the situation as well as helping people.”

She said when the AU Peace and Security Commissioner Smail Chergui had gone to Burundi before the December decision to deploy Maprobu “there was bloodletting”, adding “the AU would have needed the UN Security Council to give it Chapter 7 authority to intervene”.

The fact that the bloodshed had diminished since December indicated “the Burundians themselves realised we were serious if they stopped the bloodletting. This doesn’t mean weakness. It means strength”. – ANA

Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.