Burundi will hold a referendum in February on an interim Constitution that needs to be put in place before holding elections, after postponing the vote three times for lack of funds, Burundi’s elections chief said on Monday.
The central African nation received $12-million from donors to organise the referendum on the interim Constitution adopted by Parliament in October, Independent National Electoral Commission chairperson Paul Ngarambe told journalists.
The referendum is a prerequisite to holding parliamentary and presidential elections, scheduled for March and April, respectively.
The referendum and elections are part of a peace process intended to end Burundi’s 11-year war between the army, dominated by the minority Tutsis, and rebels from the Hutu majority.
”We were obliged to postpone the date [for the referendum] simply because of technical constraints,” Ngarambe said.
He said the electoral commission now had the money to buy ballot boxes and indelible ink to hold the referendum on February 28.
The United Nations development programme and other donors provided the funds, he said, but did not say when. The commission needs another $10-million to organise elections. Donors have promised the funds, but have not yet released them, he said.
On Monday the commission began updating and correcting voter registration lists. More than 3,1-million of Burundi’s 3,4-million eligible voters had signed up to vote as of November, the commission said earlier this month.
According to the interim Constitution, the public will elect lawmakers to Burundi’s Parliament, which will then chose a new president in April.
More than 100 people demonstrated Monday outside the UN offices, saying Burundians should be allowed to vote directly for president.
Anyone who has been president before is not eligible for the April vote, according to a 2001 peace deal.
President Domitien Ndayizeye has asked the constitutional court to amend the interim Constitution to allow former presidents to run in April. The court said the interim charter could be changed only through a referendum or by Parliament.
Burundi’s conflict broke out in October 1993 after Tutsi paratroopers assassinated the country’s first democratically elected leader, a Hutu.
More than 260 000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the conflict. – Sapa-AP