G-5 threaten to stay out of transitional government

A group of five pro-Tutsi political parties said on Monday they would boycott the transitional government due to be inaugurated on 1 November unless President Pierre Buyoya alters the allocation of ministerial posts he agreed with the opposition umbrella of pro-Hutu parties known as the G-7. "We remain firm on this decision," Joseph Nzeyimana, speaking on behalf of the pro-Tutsi G-5 parties, told IRIN. Nzeyimana, also the president of the Raddes party, said Buyoya failed to consult the G-5 before agreeing on the distribution of ministerial posts with the pro-Hutu group of seven (G-7). Buyoya's unilateral action, Nzeyimana said, effectively ignored Tutsi interests and resulted in an uneven distribution of posts. For example, he said, the ministries overseeing education and land issues had all been reserved for the G7. The G-5 also objects to Buyoya's agreement allowing foreign troops into Burundi. The troops, who will initially come from South Africa, are supposed to protect returning Hutu political exiles and state institutions. Many Hutu politicians have expressed a desire for a neutral force that will guarantee their safety. "Our army has Hutus and Tutsis. It is strong enough. It protects Hutus as well as Tutsis," Nzeyimana said, pointing to a special unit of Burundi Hutus and Tutsis that protests the vice-president. However, rejecting charges that inviting foreign troops constituted a loss of sovereignty, Buyoya said on 18 October on Radio Burundi, "Any country involved in a peace process like ours - which gets to the implementation phase - must in one way or another resort to neutral foreign forces." Burundi has been at civil war since 1993 following the assassination of the country's first Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye. At least 200,000 people have since been killed.