{ Burundi’s parliament sat for the first time on Monday after President Pierre Nkurunziza won a disputed election last week, with a leading opposition figure taking his seat despite having boycotted the vote.}
The United States called the July 21 presidential vote “deeply flawed”, while regional observers said the poll “fell short” of being free and fair. The opposition, which also boycotted parliamentary elections held on June 29, has accused the government of violence and intimidation against its members.
Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third five-year term plunged Burundi into its worst crisis since an ethnically charged civil war ended in 2005. The opposition says Nkurunziza’s bid violated the constitution and could spark another conflict.
Agathon Rwasa, the leader of the opposition Amizero y’Abarundi coalition, said 20 members of his FNL party would take their seats to represent people who voted for them.
Opposition politicians were split over whether to take up their seats in the parliament. They boycotted the polls but candidates’ names were kept on the ballot papers and some of the lawmakers won seats in opposition strongholds.
“Can we leave all those people who voted for us to their fate though elections results are not that realistic?” Rwasa asked, once again rejecting the results of the election.
But Charles Nditije, from the opposition UPRONA party that acts as the junior partner in the Amizero y’Abarundi coalition, said his party’s 10 elected lawmakers would not take up their seats in the 121-member chamber.
“How can we take seats while we pulled out from the elections? Its impossible to take seats,” Nditije told Reuters.
{{Source: Reuters}}
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