Burundi leader accepts defeat

2005-07-07 09:21

Bujumbura - Burundi's President Domitien Ndayizeye on Wednesday urged Burundians "to accept the will of the people" after his party lost this week's legislative elections to the war-ravaged country's main ex-Hutu rebel group.

As the former rebel Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) prepared to form Burundi's first post-transition government after 12 years of conflict, he congratulated the victors of Monday's polls and called for their win to be respected.

"I ask all political actors to accept the will of the people," he told reporters at a news conference held shortly after state radio reported that the political wing of the FDD, the CNDD-FDD, won nearly 60% of the country's lower house.

"I congratulate the CNDD-FDD for its victory and I invite it to lead the country for the good of all Burundians, those who for voted for it and those who did not," Ndayizeye said.

AU satisfied

According to official final results announced by the country's electoral panel, the FDD clinched an absolute majority by winning 59 out of 100 seats in the national assembly.

Legislators in Monday's polls alongside senators elected by municipal councillors will select Burundi's first post-transition government next month.

The former rebels, who are now part of the transitional government, trounced Ndayizeye's Front for Democracy in Burundi (Frodebu), which took 24 seats, while the main party of the Tutsi minority, Uprona, won 10 seats.

Late on Wednesday, the Frodebu said it accepted the result.

"The Frodebu party accepts and respects the verdict of the people expressed at the polls, despite numerous irregularities," its president, Jean Minani, told a news conference. "We accept the result for the good of Burundians, for Burundi and for the ongoing peace process."

Two smaller parties, one Hutu allied with the FDD and one Tutsi, won a total of seven seats.

In his comments, the outgoing president also acknowledged that Monday's polls were orderly and "went well," a sentiment shared by Mamadou Bah, the African Union's envoy to Burundi and European election observers.

"The AU is satisfied with the way in which Monday's legislative elections were prepared and run," Bah said, adding that Burundi could serve as an example for other African countries in conflict like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Ivory Coast.

On Tuesday, the victorious CNDD-FDD said it would work with other parties to form the country's next government which will be sworn in August.

The parliament is to select a new president on August 19.

In addition, the government will have a 60-40 split between majority Hutus, who make up 85% of the population, and minority Tutsis, who account for 14%.

Six of the country's seven Hutu rebel groups have laid down their arms as part of the peace process and participated in the election while the lone remaining insurgent faction, the National Liberation Forces (FNL) did not disrupt the polls.

- AFP