{BURUNDI\u2019s crisis this week snowballed into a major regional concern after a constitutional court backed president Pierre Nkurunziza\u2019s bid for a controversial third term, even as one of the judges fled saying the decision had been made under duress.}<\/p>\n
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete on Tuesday pressed foreign ministers from the East African Community states to investigate the political situation in Burundi, where protests that erupted a week ago over the president\u2019s plan to seek a third term turned deadly.<\/p>\n
Kikwete, who is the current chairman of the five-nation bloc, asked the ministers from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to \u201ctalk to key stakeholders and send us a report to guide the way we can asssist Burundi,\u201d according to a statement e-mailed from the presidency in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.<\/p>\n
Solutions to the current crisis in Burundi lie in the country\u2019s constitution and electoral law, Kikwete said. The Tanzanian leader, who leaves office later in the year, has in the past urged Nkurunziza to reconsider his bid.<\/p>\n
Opponents say Nkurunziza\u2019s candidacy violates a peace accord signed 15 years ago in Arusha, Tanzania, that stipulates a two- term presidential limit, but his supporters say his first term was not elected but by appointment by parliament.<\/p>\n
Neighbour Rwanda also weighed in, signalling that foreign countries may have to intervene to restore order.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we respect Burundi\u2019s sovereignty in addressing internal matters, Rwanda considers the safety of innocent population as a regional and international responsibility,\u201d Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said in a statement e-mailed Tuesday, according to Bloomberg news agency.<\/p>\n
Rwanda has \u201cserious concern\u201d about the deteriorating situation in the East African country, she said.<\/p>\n
Return to conflict<\/p>\n
The unrest in Burundi is stoking regional fears of a return to conflict if rebel groups abandon the agreements that ended a 12- year civil war in which 300,000 people were killed. <\/p>\n
On its own, Burundi is a minor regional player of sorts, but sustained unrest there has the potential to destabilise the Great Lakes region that includes the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a top resource exporter and a playground for global multinationals.<\/p>\n
It also plays a critical role in a theatre where America is highly vested – it is one of the main contributors to the peacekeeping forces in Somalia, where the Al-Shabaab militant group has been reported to be recruiting Somalis in the American diaspora. <\/p>\n
These concerns may have alarmed the United States enough to take a tougher stance. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Monday that Nkurunziza\u2019s bid goes against the constitution, calling for calm after days of protests.<\/p>\n
John Kerry, the US Secretary of State<\/p>\n
We are deeply concerned about President Pierre Nkurunziza\u2019s decision, which flies directly in the face of the constitution of this country,\u201d Kerry told reporters in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is my understanding that an Africa Union delegation will go there soon to meet with him to try to underscore the importance\u2026 of the constitution of the country,\u201d Kerry said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it is our hope in the United States that ultimately that is what will happen and the people of Burundi will be given the choice that their constitution promises them.\u201d<\/p>\n
A judge flees<\/p>\n
Burundi\u2019s constitutional court Tuesday ruled that the president\u2019s bid to stand for another term \u201cby direct universal suffrage for five years is not contrary to the constitution of Burundi,\u201d the judgement signed by six out of seven judges read. <\/p>\n
But the vice-president of the court detailed how the court\u2019s judges had come under major duress including death threats from senior figures, whom he refused to name, to rubberstamp the disputed candidature of the president.<\/p>\n
Sylvere Nimpagaritse claimed that a majority of the court\u2019s seven judges believed it would be unconstitutional for Nkurunziza to stand again, but had faced \u201cenormous pressure and even death threats\u201d to force them to change their mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my soul and conscience I decided not to put my signature to a ruling, a decision which is clearly not lawful that would be imposed from the outside, and which has nothing legal about it,\u201d Nimpagaritse emotionally told AFP before leaving the country.<\/p>\n
Regional economic powerhouse Kenya, which has its companies trading in Burundi, this week said it would support free and fair elections but would not interfere with its sovereignty. <\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of Burundian refugees have already fled to neighbouring countries ahead of the election scheduled for next month.<\/p>\n
The situation could be a test of the African Union\u2019s resolve in clamping down on unconstitutional changes, given the Burundi case does not quite fall into the mould of a coup. But with leaders in several African countries bidding to extend their office, and Burundi\u2019s role in AMISOM, the AU might just not want to open a can of worms by banging the table on Nkurunziza.<\/p>\n
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