{"id":55080,"date":"2025-07-31T19:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/burundi-cndd-fdd-s-dominance-sparks-heated-debate-in-parliament\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T19:51:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T19:51:44","slug":"burundi-cndd-fdd-s-dominance-sparks-heated-debate-in-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/burundi-cndd-fdd-s-dominance-sparks-heated-debate-in-parliament\/","title":{"rendered":"Burundi: CNDD-FDD\u2019s dominance sparks heated debate in parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the previous legislature, the Assembly included representatives from CNDD-FDD, CNL, and UPRONA. According to the law governing parliamentary operations, the bureau is required to consist of three members from different political parties.<\/p>\n

However, on July 29, 2025, as lawmakers convened to vote on a revised internal parliamentary regulation, disagreement emerged over the provision mandating that the bureau be composed of a President and two Vice Presidents from different parties. Some MPs argued that this requirement no longer applied in a one-party legislature and could be misleading.<\/p>\n

Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Gelase Daniel Ndabirabe, proposed replacing the phrase \u201cmust be composed\u201d with \u201cmay be composed\u201d of members from different political parties, citing the current reality in which CNDD-FDD holds all the seats.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could say, \u2018may be from multiple parties,\u2019 but let\u2019s not enforce that multi-party requirement outright. If we do, won\u2019t outsiders claim, \u2018We told you so\u2019?\u201d Ndabirabe remarked.<\/p>\n

MP Bikebako Gerard warned that the term \u201cmay\u201d could also introduce ambiguity and instead suggested removing the entire clause referencing multi-party composition altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe word \u2018may\u2019 might cause more confusion than simply removing the phrase \u2018must include multiple parties,\u2019 especially since future assemblies might operate under different political circumstances. If, for instance, the law remains the same, but only CNDD-FDD is represented, where would we find other parties to meet the requirement?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

MP Zache Misago argued that criticism about a single-party parliament was to be expected but reflected the will of the people. <\/p>\n

\u201cOutsiders will keep saying this is a one-party legislature, and we should be ready for that\u2014because it’s what the citizens chose.\u201d<\/p>\n

MP R\u00e9dempteur Gahitira pointed out that although CNDD-FDD holds 108 out of 111 seats, the remaining three belong to representatives of the Batwa ethnic group, some of whom may be affiliated with other political parties such as CNL or UPRONA. He suggested that the Batwa MPs could satisfy the legal requirement for political diversity in the bureau.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, we have 111 members in the National Assembly\u2014108 from CNDD-FDD and three Batwa. Among the Batwa, one might be from CNL, another from UPRONA. Yet, we insist this is a one-party parliament? How does that add up?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

However, MP Emmanuel Ndorimana rejected Gahitira\u2019s argument, clarifying that the Batwa representatives were not elected to represent political parties but their ethnic group. Therefore, he said, they should not be counted toward political diversity in the bureau.<\/p>\n

\u201cListening to this discussion, one might think we\u2019re afraid of being called a one-party parliament. But even if that\u2019s said, it\u2019s the result of the people\u2019s choice. The three Batwa MPs were not officially elected under any party banner, so we cannot assume their affiliation,\u201d Ndorimana stated.<\/p>\n

After nearly four hours of debate, lawmakers agreed to amend the provision, replacing \u201cmust be composed\u201d with \u201cmay be composed\u201d of members from different political parties. The change legally accommodates the current single-party scenario without violating the existing Constitution.<\/p>\n

On July 31, 2025, following the amended law, Gelase Daniel Ndabirabe was re-elected Speaker of the National Assembly, Fabrice Nkurunziza was elected First Deputy Speaker, and Boussessia Nkezimana was elected Second Deputy Speaker.<\/p>\n

\"Burundian<\/figure>\n
\"Following<\/figure>\n
\"Fabrice<\/figure>\n
\"Nkezimana<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A tense debate broke out in Burundi\u2019s National Assembly as lawmakers clashed over how to elect the bureau (leadership team) in light of the current political composition, where the ruling CNDD-FDD is the sole party represented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000091808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-55080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000091808,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/parlia_burundi-f4fd9.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/parlia_burundi-f4fd9.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/parlia_burundi-f4fd9.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/parlia_burundi-f4fd9.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/parlia_burundi-f4fd9.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/parlia_burundi-f4fd9.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000091808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55080"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=55080"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=55080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}