Nkurunziza's rivals pull out

2010-06-08 20:06

Bujumbura - President Pierre Nkurunziza will be the only candidate in Burundi's forthcoming elections after his rivals pulled out, the electoral commission said on Tuesday.

"Until yesterday (Monday), the date limit for handing in candidacies for the presidential election, we had only one candidate, the current President Pierre Nkurunziza", CENI spokesperson Prosper Ntihorwamiye told AFP.

"We have thus retained only one candidature, that of Mr Nkurunziza, who fulfils all the conditions required by law," he added.

Six opposition candidates who had been set to challenge Nkurunziza at the polls quit the race after local government elections at the end of May, which were largely won by the ruling party amid cries of foul play.

Opposition leaders in the small central African country said there had been "massive fraud" in the municipal votes, and the presidential candidates pulled out of the poll last week, claiming that it would be rigged.

Despite a prolongation until Monday night of the date limit for candidates, nobody came forward. "We shall have an election with just one candidate," Ntihorwamiye said, adding that this was "judicially in line with the law".

A CENI member who asked not be named said that if the panel receives "a new candidacy within a reasonable time, we will look at it seriously", adding that "the law doesn't ban this".

The opposition is demanding the annulment of the local elections of May 24, in which the ruling National Council for the Defence of Democracy - Forces for the Defence of Democracy won most seats.

Representatives of the international community in Burundi expressed regret that the opposition has pulled out of the elections and has urged candidates to go back into the race.

- AFP