Burundi’s main opposition party candidate in the May 20 presidential election, Agathon Rwasa is rejecting results declared by the electoral commission.
The electoral commission declared the ruling party’s candidate retired general Evariste Ndayishimiye as winner of the election with 69% of votes.
According to the commission the opposition candidate Agathon Rwasa received 24% of votes with a vote turnout of 88%.
Commission chairman Pierre Claver Kazihise said the turnout was “massive” and the election was peaceful.
But Rwasa denounced the declaration saying with his party spokesperson Thérence Manirambona telling the AFP that “We are in the process of putting together our complaint file, and we are going to comply with the law.”
“We are going to file (our appeal) at the (Constitutional) Court to rule on the massive frauds that have punctuated this electoral masquerade,” Manirambona added.
Meanwhile Evariste Ndayishimiye is set to take over from President Pierre Nkurunziza, who has led Burundi since 2005.
He would however be sworn into office in August for a seven-year term, renewable once at the end of the outgoing president’s term.
In 2015 when president Nkurunziza decided to run for a third, five-year term in 2015 it sparked widespread protests and violence.
His decision to stand down was welcomed by many with the country conferring on him the title of “Supreme Guide of Patriotism” and that came with a lavish send-off perks including a villa worth $530,000.
Burundi is one of the world’s poorest countries and largely depends on donor support.
Source: Africafeeds.com
