Burundi counts presidential election votes
July 22, 2015
More than 70 percent of Burundi's 3.8 million registered voters cast their ballots in the election, according to election commission officials, despite a plea from opposition leaders not to take part.
Four rival candidates to Nkurunziza had wished to withdraw their names from the ballot, denouncing the president's candidacy as unconstitutional and saying the elections were not free or fair. However, Burundi's electoral commission said this was not possible ahead of the Tuesday poll.
Results are to be announced on Friday, with Nkurunziza expected to win easily. The commission put voter turnout at more than 70 percent. Ahead of the voting, at least two people - a policeman and a civilian - were killed in what the president's office described as terrorist acts to intimidate voters.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for calm, asking all sides to "refrain from any acts of violence that could compromise the stability of Burundi and the region."
Fears about peace
The main opposition figure, Agathon Rwasa, said he had tried to campaign - only to be thwarted by the government.
Nkurunziza announced on April 25 that he would stand for a third term as president - something that protesters say would be illegal under the current constitution of Burundi. The president said democracy in the country was "improving" as he cast his ballot on Tuesday.
The opposition says any third term would violate limits on presidential power that are central to the 2000 Arusha peace agreement, which ended the 12-year civil war in 2005.
Rwasa said on Wednesday that, after generals staged a rebellion May this year, the country might face another coup. However, he said it could be possible to accept the idea of a government of national unity, an idea that the president's office said might be acceptable.
"Some have already been waving the threat of armed struggle," said Rwasa, who like Nkurunziza was a former rebel leader in Burundi's civil war. "For the sake of Burundi, the idea of a government of national unity can be accepted," he said, adding that he would demand new elections, possibly in a year.
rc/msh (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)