LONDON–The decision of president Pierre Nkurunziza to seek a third presidential mandate has plunged Burundi into turmoil.
He argued that when he came to power in 2005, he did not win a presidential election, but he was appointed as president by the Burundi’s parliament for 5 years.
Since he has won only one presidential election in 2010, he considers himself entitled to run for a second time in the 2015 presidential elections. The elections were initially scheduled for 26 June, and have now been postponed until the end of July.
In the meantime, communal and legislatives elections were organized on June 29, despite the boycott of the opposition. Nkurunziza took his case to the Burundi constitutional court, which unsurprisingly cleared Pierre Nkurunziza to run for a third term in office.
The 2000 Arusha power-sharing accords and the subsequent agreements in 2006 that ended Burundi’s 12-year civil war, clearly stipulates that presidential term is restricted to two terms only.
Pierre Nkurunziza, one of the rebel leaders during the civil war, leads the CNDD-FDD a Hutu organization. The civil war was sparked by the assassination of Melcoir Ndandaye, a Hutu president in 1993.
There have been daily mass protests since April when Nkurunzinza announced his intention to run for a third presidential mandate. The repression of anti-government demonstrators worsened after the failed coup attempt by general Godefroid Niyombare.
At least 20 people have been killed by the police, and over 120,000 have fled to neighbouring countries.
Struggle is not to prevent third mandate but to end 600 years of undeclared imperialist mandate rule over Africa
One mandate – or even a second or third mandate – is not the essential issue in Burundi or anywhere else in Africa.
The African petty bourgeois is busy in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Congo Brazzaville demanding the departure of current presidents, because they have already served two or more terms.
This is not the issue; the fundamental question is the 600 years of domination of Africa by white imperialist rulers. It is these 600 years of direct and indirect ruling over us that is the number one problem the fractured and divided African nation is confronted with.
This is the ugly reality that we have to come to grips with in order to win back our freedom and independence.
The fundamental contradiction is that the African nation is unfree and produces material life for everyone else except for itself. That is why Burundi is not working and cannot work.
Burundi, bled dry by colonial powers, and landlocked between DR Congo, Tanzania and Rwanda, is essentially an agricultural based economy which produces coffee, and tea for imperialist countries in the west, Japan and other parasitic countries. The vast majority of the people there live on less than $300 U.S. dollars a year.
Nkurunziza has lost confidence of senior members of his regime
Many key senior members of Nkurunziza’s regime disapprove of his bid to extend his rule. Adding their voices to the opposition to Nkurunziza’s rule are Gervais Rufyikiri, the deputy president of the country and Pie Ntavyohanyuma, the president of the Burundi national assembly.
Both of these key members of the ruling party have fled to Belgium.
Other key elements of the ruling party (CNDD-FDD) fled to Europe and African countries where they hope to organize for regime change in Burundi with support of the imperialist ruling class itself.
General Pontien Gaciyubwenge, former national defense minister, Spes-Caritas Ndironkeye, deputy president of CENI, Sylvère Nimpagaritse, deputy president of the constitutional court, general Philibert Habarugira, director general of the provisioning and management to the ministry for defense, Geneviève Kanyange, president of the league of the women of the ruling party, and others are opposed to the third mandate candidacy of Pierre Nkurunziza.
The impotent AU has refused to send electoral observers to Burundi, while the usual hypocrites -from the UN to western leaders – are calling for calm and peaceful approaches to the problem.
Burundi’s petty bourgeoisie and the workers have fundamentally opposing interests.
While factions of the petty bourgeoisie are opposed to the rule of Nkurunziza, they all represent the same class and have the same submissive relationship with our white imperialist oppressors.
The African masses are fighting for African self-determination. That is freedom from 600 years of white direct and indirect domination of Africa.
Elections never benefit the African working class, because elections are designed to serve the African petty bourgeoisie and validate the hundred years of imperialism’s oppression and exploitation of Africa.
The development of Africa depends on the development of the African working class, and white rulers and black petty bourgeois are against that development. It is not in their interests to see African workers rise to power.
Africa has been transformed to a vast prison for the masses of African workers and peasants. Burundi is just one of the prisons and Pierre Nkurunziza is just one of the murderous prison guards.
That is why we are calling on genuine Burundi freedom fighters to break away from this parasitic, African petty bourgeoisie class now and join the African Socialist International, the Party for the African Revolution under the leadership of the African workers in alliance with peasants.
Workers need to get organized to stop the violence against us. We demand the withdrawal of all armed police and militias from our neighbourhoods and the disarming of all soldiers and police in working class neighbourhoods. We want the right to organize for black workers power!
Power to the African workers in Burundi!
Build the ASI!
