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Burundi: The East African Community Rejects Disputed Candidates for the Regional Parliament
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Burundi Réalités (Bujumbura)
24 March 2008
Posted to the web 25 March 2008
Bujummbura
Things might have gone from bad to worse for the ruling party. The East African Community may have rejected those elected to represent Burundi in the Community's Parliament. According to some sources, Burundi's candidates were rejected because of irregularities surrounding their election. This report has not been confirmed as the ministry in charge of regional integration denies that Burundi's representatives were rejected.
On March 6th, the National Assembly appointed nine people to represent Burundi in the East African Assembly. This appointment came after Hon Alice Nzomukunda was controversially ousted from her post of the first vice president of national assembly and replaced by Hon Irène Inankuyo. Mr Hassan Rukara rejected the offer on the ground that his party, Frodebu, did not consult him. Some MPs reason that the plenary session that led to the appointment of the delegates was not valid since the required quorum of 79 MPs was not met. The appointment of the nine people to represent Burundi in the East African region created and revived splits in the two main opposition parties which have, in return, taken actions against MPs who worked together with CNDD-FDD.
The rejection of these representatives would be a major blow to the CNDD-FDD which has refused to make any concession to the opposition although talks between political stakeholders which predated the setup of the current cabinet reached a deal which provides for dialogue in the resolution of political issues.
Hon Didace Kiganahe leadership role in the national assembly continues to create a stalemate. Currently, some UPRONA MPs who sided with CNDD-FDD in removing Hon Alice Nzomukunda also support the dismissal of Hon Didace Kiganahe. Surprisingly, the ruling party and its leaders are afraid to hold any plenary session in the presence of opposition MPs. Yesterday, the meeting hall was padlocked to prevent MPs from entering, a first in the history of the Burundian national assembly.
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