Burundi Holds Elections amid Violence and Delays

Burundi’s local and parliamentary elections began Monday morning, after polling stations were attacked overnight, and both the African Union and United Nations on Sunday urged for a postponement until a solution to its political crisis is reached.

“Voting has not yet begun in many centers in the capital because election officials are trying to prepare materials and in almost all of the stations, these arrived late because of the overnight attacks,” Cyriaque Bucumi, the president of the Bujumbura electoral commission, told AFP.

The African nation has been in political turmoil since April, after President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would run for a third term, a move critics say is unconstitutional and a violation of the country’s peace accords. This sparked a wave of protests across the country, leading to the military attempted a coup last month.

There are 3.8 million eligible voters in the country. However, many opposition and civil society groups are boycotting. The African Union announced Sunday that it was pulling its election observers.

"AU reiterates the imperative need for dialogue and consensus for a lasting solution to the crisis in Burundi," said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, African Union election commission chairperson.

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The U.N. criticized the government for stifling free speech in the lead up to the election. Warning that the governing party and its youth militia use violence to limit freedom of speech and hate speech to obtain certain electoral outcome, Pablo de Greiff, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence stressed the utmost importance to disarm those youth militias.

“Voters must be free to support or to oppose any political party…without undue influence or coercion of any kind which may distort or inhibit the free expression of the elector's will,” said U.N. official Pablo de Greiff.

On Sunday, the speaker of Burundi's parliament told FRANCE 24 that he had fled the country for Belgium, denouncing the president’s bid for a third term as “illegal.”

“I was forced to quit the country due to the unrest caused by the president’s insistence to seek a third term bid which is illegal, which is unconstitutional,” said National Assembly Speaker Pie Ntavyohanyuma. "I would like to say to him that the mandate he wants to have is illegal. I would like to say to him that forcing through the election is senseless."

Dozens have been killed during the country’s unrest, while the U.N. estimates that over 100,000 Burundians have fled the country.

The presidential election is scheduled for July 15.