Washington, DC — After 12 years of civil war, former rebel leader Pierre Nkunrunziza was elected president of Burundi becoming the country's first democratically elected leader since 1993. So far observers, give his government high marks for his efforts in rebuilding the country after many years of civil war. However the UPRONA party, which led the country for almost thirty years say though the Nkurunziza led government has chalked some successes there are still human rights and constitutional abuses that need to be addressed.

In an interview with Journalist Peter Clottey in Washington DC, Fred Ngoga Gateretse, a leading member of the UPRONA party, sat down to discuss the present day and future challenges of Burundi.

" Well first of all I have to say that we have made significant strides in Burundi since 2000, when we signed the Arusha peace agreement. We had successful democratic elections.   These are all major accomplishments for Burundi. The UPRONA party believes the President has shown the will to implement different policies to improve conditions here in Burundi, but we are concerned about his ability to stay the course.   For instance, we have seen cases where the constitution is constantly violated, human rights abuses, and incidents of corruption. These things concern us because they threaten our fragile democratic system. We are not looking to move backwards.   We want to continue to build a future for Burundi where Burundians can enjoy the benefits that come with a democratic and just society.   We realize that this is the beginning for us and that there are growing pains that come with nation Building. It would be unfair to judge this government only after one year.   However if in the coming months we don't see some significant changes, I fear that Burundi might unfortunately step back into a very difficult situation".

Peter: What are some of the policies implemented by the government since its inception, which the UPRONA party would classify as positive?

Ngoga-Gateretse: There have been significant improvements in the country one year after the elections. Most notably we've seen much improvement in the security of our country, despite occasional attacks by the last rebel palipehutu FNL group. Also good government policies like the recently announced free basic primary education for Burundians and, free medical care for all pregnant women. These are some of the policies this government has implemented for which they should get credit.

 You made comments about the government violating the country's newly established constitution, can you elaborate on these violations?

The government has sacked some members from the FRODEBU party who are members of the local councils. These members are elected by the people so the government cannot and does not have the right to sack them. Their actions are a direct violation of the constitution. Another example is the president who is normally not allowed to sit at these local councils, but he attended for a while meetings in his own province. Fortunately, he recently resigned from the Ngozi local council. In June, security forces raided the house of Leonard Nyangoma, president of the National Council for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD) party, in search of illegal weapons. Authorities accused Nyangoma of collaborating with the National Liberation Forces (FNL) rebels after he was spotted in Tanzania talking with the FNL leader Agathon Rwasa.   The search was illegal because members of parliament have immunity.

Again, these are all constitutional violations.   Above all that I mentioned, the one that concerns my party the most is violating the constitution and human rights is becoming a way of governance in Burundi and this is not why the people voted for the CNDD-FDD. Unfortunately, the promise that Burundi would be ruled by laws that all would respect is fading fast.

In your earlier submission, you said the government is not complying with the constitution. What is your party prepared to do to protect the constitution in your country?

First of all you have to understand that we are in a very difficult situation as a party?. we have our won internal struggles within the UPRONA party. On the one hand, we are in the government. The first vice president of the country is a member of the party. On the other hand, the majority of the UPRONA members do not support the idea of us being in the government.   We also continue to struggle with our difficult past. The younger generation wants accountability for some of the crimes committed in the name of the party while the older generation is more reluctant.

So, we are in a very difficult situation. Despite these challenges, we continue to point out when the government behaves in a way that could jeopardize the gains of the last six years. And every time we press the government to make some significant changes nothing happens. The violation of the constitution and human rights abuses are major concerns to us. I must point out that there are serious changes occurring within the UPRONA party and if we succeed they will enable us to continue to fight for the people in Burundi. Overall, we keep raising concerns and pressing this government to make positive changes, but unfortunately we have seen the ruling party acting as if they are in a mono-party system.

Why is the first vice president, who is a member of your party, still in government when the party clearly wants him out?

We have been trying to get the first vice president to withdraw from the government because being in the government means that our party   is endorsing the policies of the government. But the first vice president and the president of the party do not understand that today it is time for us to join the opposition. They do not understand that for us to have a healthy democracy in Burundi, we need a very strong opposition. The party however doesn't want any type of opposition, we want a constructive opposition and that's what they don't seem to get. And that is why today, we are heading the reform system movement within the UPRONA party hoping that if they do not agree to sit at the table to discuss these issues with us then we would bring it to the member of the party. I hope that the members of the party will decide in our favor.

Observers believe the first vice president is a symbol of unity in the country. Why would your party want him out, when there is a strong possibility of jeopardizing the unity with his withdrawal from the government?

Well that is the perception outside the country, one thing for sure that I can tell you is that the first vice president does not have any power whatsoever. I think the constitution is quite clear about that. If the first vice president had power like in the transitional period, then we would talk about him being sort of a stabilizing element. But today he does not have any power. So he has to pretty much implement the policies of the president and some of the policies he has implemented are not favorable to our party.

What punitive action could the party impose on the first vice president should he refuse to withdraw from the government?

Basically we are asking him to withdraw from the government, and  for us to go into the opposition, that is the main thing we are calling for.   I had the opportunity to talk to him and he actually seems to understand all these issues and concerns. I hope that we will be able to continue the dialogue. I think the most beneficial thing for us to do is to unite the party and then to tackle all these issues. He believes our party would not be ready to manage his withdrawal from the government. He thinks that if we join the opposition, the current regime will mainly tackle members of UPRONA who work in the civil service and so on and so forth as they have done to other parties. So he thinks that as long as we are not a strong united party we would not be able challenge the ruling party. But we continue to press upon him that unless he first withdraws from the government then we would not be able to unite and there within lies the complications.

What is your take on the current peace talks between the government and the last rebel Palipehutu FNL group?

"We are pleased that the government sat down with the FNL. However we raised concerns because the talks were not all inclusive. We would have liked the talks to be all-inclusive, to include all the concerned parties in Burundi.   About the talks themselves, unfortunately we think that the FNL are not serious about peace. On the one hand, they talk about peace and yet they continue to attack the population. They continue to raise issues that are no more relevant in today's context; they keep bringing in the ethnic dimension of the conflict when we all know that the Burundian conflict has also a political dimension. Despite all of that we think that it's good to negotiate with them and we hope that a ceasefire is going to come out of it. But if the negotiations fail then we call on the government to take up its responsibility to protect the population".

What action do you want the government to take if the rebels refuse to sign a peace deal at the current peace talks?

"I think that the government will most likely bring this issue to the regional heads of state and then they would decide to take it up from there. I hope that we wont have to get there. We hope that the Palipehutu-FNL will drop its unacceptable demands of dismantling the military and that they will agree to disarm and to join the army. And to also become a political party like all the political parties in the country.   We really hope that we wont come to a point where the government would have to take back the issue to the regional heads of states".

What is the vision of the UPRONA party for the people of Burundi?

" In a country coming out of civil war, the visions of the political parties are not so much different. We do want reconstruction, we do want justice, and we do want to attract investment in Burundi. I think all the parties in Burundi have similar visions if you take a look at their programs. I believe that the difference is in the type of leadership we can provide. If changes are made within UPRONA. We will deliver the type of leadership that does not promise the world to the people but will tell them what we are capable of doing and what we are not capable of doing. Today I think it is quite clear what the people want in Burundi. People want better roads, to feel secure in their homes; people want to be able to send their kids to schools, decent schools. People want to be able to have a good health care system. The people want the government to create an environment, which is conducive to the emergence of businesses and they want our country to be competitive in the region, in the whole of Africa and in the world. The younger generation within UPRONA is saying that we will be capable of bringing that.    You know Peter, UPRONA led Burundi for about thirty years and I can tell you that our past is not glorious at all. Some individuals used the name of our party to commit atrocities on our people and as the younger generation of UPRONA is ware of this misuse of the people's faith and support in the party, we are prepared to change this practice and get back to the business of the people.   We are ready to show Burundians we are a people's organization and we are committed to bringing unity to our country.

Before we call it a day Fred, some members of your party were believed to have committed various forms of atrocities against Hutu's in the country during the last thirty years of UPRONA's rule. What plans do you have to reconcile the nation?

I think the first thing is to acknowledge the wrongs that have been done.Within the young reformist movement, we have acknowledged that some horrendous crimes were committed against the Hutu population within UPRONA party and we feel sorry about that. Our goal today is to reach out to the to the Hutu victims and even to the Tutsi's who were harmed by our party to unite our country. We just do not want to talk about it, we want to walk the talk. Secondly, in our daily behavior or interaction with each other, there must be changes. We plan to deal with all extremists' views within our party. We want to establish a vision of unity and a vision of reconstruction and development that would take Burundi forward.

Thanks very much for sharing your party's position on the current developments in Burundi.

It's always a pleasure Peter!