Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Burundi
Official Name: Republic of Burundi
Capital: Bujumbura
Area 27,830 square kilometres: 10,745 square miles
Major cities (Population)Bujumbura 234,000 (1990 estimate)
Population: 6,393,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 3 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Republic
Independence: 1 July 1962 (from United Nations [UN] trusteeship under Belgian administration)
Constitution: 13 March 1992 draft provides for establishment of plural political system.
Voting Rights: Universal adult suffrage; minimum voting age not available.
Government
As a result of a coup in 1996, the constitution was suspended and the National Assembly was dissolved. Only limited political activities have been allowed, but leaders have promised a return to democracy. Previously, the nation had a multi-party system, with a president elected by the National Assembly to a five-year term. The president, holding executive power, selected the prime minister from the leadership of the National Assembly. The National Assembly consisted of 81 members, elected by direct universal suffrage to five-year terms.
The legal system is headed by a supreme court and is based on German and Belgian codified law and traditional customary law. Burundi is divided into 15 provinces, each subdivided into arrondissements, or administrative districts, and communes. Local authorities tend to be dominated by the national government.
Recent History
Following World War II, political consciousness increased in Ruanda-Urundi, a United Nations (UN) trust territory, and the majority Hutu population grew more vocal in protesting against inequalities. In 1959 ethnic antagonisms in Rwanda erupted into violence; the Rwandan Tutsi king fled the country, and an exodus of some 200,000 Tutsi followed. Many migrated to Burundi. At the insistence of the UN Trusteeship Council, Burundi became an independent constitutional monarchy on 1 July 1962. However, political rivalry between Hutu and Tutsi threatened regional stability. Fearing a Rwandan-style revolution, the Burundian Tutsi reacted brutally. In 1963 thousands of Hutu took refuge in Rwanda.
The Burundian power structure remained in Tutsi hands, despite a Hutu majority in the legislature after 1965. Captain Michel Micombero, a Tutsi, led a successful coup in 1966, overthrowing the king, or Mwami. Micombero declared Burundi a republic, appointed himself president, and established a National Revolutionary Committee to help stabilize his regime and develop the economy. In April 1972 a Hutu uprising led to widespread massacres claiming at least 100,000 lives, mainly Hutus. The uprising was quelled, but unrest continued; thousands of Hutu refugees fled to nearby countries.
Micombero was ousted in a bloodless coup in November 1976, and Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza was subsequently named president. However, peace between the ruling Tutsi and the Hutu majority remained precarious. A new constitution in 1981 declared Burundi a one-party state. Bagaza became more authoritarian and started persecuting the clergy. In 1987, while on a foreign visit, he was overthrown by Major Pierre Buyoya. Suspending the constitution, freeing political prisoners, lifting restrictions on churches, and touring the country in an effort to unite the people, Buyoya quickly consolidated his power and dealt with political tensions. But in 1988 the Tutsi-led army engaged in massacres of Hutu that left at least 5,000 dead. Buyoya responded by appointing a Hutu prime minister and including Hutu in the cabinet. He controlled the military and planned a return to democratic, civilian rule. A new constitution providing for a multi-party system was ratified by referendum in March 1992. In June 1993 Burundi held its first democratic presidential elections since independence. Melchior Ndadaye, a Hutu and a member of the Burundi Democracy Front, won the elections with 60 per cent of the vote.
Less than a month after the elections, Ndadaye was assassinated and instability in neighbouring Rwanda spread to Burundi. Ndadaye’s death provoked waves of ethnic violence that sent thousands of refugees fleeing into Rwanda. Cyprien Ntaryamira, who replaced Ndadaye, attempted to restore order by reining in the Tutsi-dominated security forces implicated in the violence. On 6 April 1994, shortly after concluding talks, Ntaryamira and Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana were killed in a suspicious plane crash near Kigali, Rwanda. Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, former head of the National Assembly, was named acting president and was formally elected in September 1994. Burundi was locked in a stalemate between the elected Hutu-dominated government and the Tutsi-led army. The situation continued to deteriorate, exacerbated by the influx of thousands of refugees from Rwanda. Many government functions ceased.
On 25 July 1996, Buyoya seized power again, claiming that extraordinary measures were necessary to insure national survival. In spite of his efforts to stabilize the situation and his repeated intentions of restoring democracy, Buyoya has been criticized for acting unconstitutionally. In September 1996 Roman Catholic Archbishop Joachim Ruhuna was killed in an ambush. As a result, political party and parliamentary activity has been permitted, but the constitution remains suspended. Since 1993, ethnic violence has claimed over 150,000 lives and has led to the displacement of about 700,000 people.
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