Candidate for vice-presidency nominated

Alphonse Marie Kadege of the Uprona political party was nominated on Tuesday as the candidate for the vice-presidency in the second transitional phase in Burundi due to begin on 1 May, the Burundi news agency, ABP, reported. The offices of the Burundian National Assembly and Senate, together with the president and vice-president, nominated Kadege during a meeting held to propose a candidate who would be endorsed when the National Assembly and the Senate next meet. The nomination was in accordance with Article 99 of the transitional constitution, following the failure of the Group of 10 Tutsi parties (G10) to agree on a candidate. Meetings of the G10 on 13 and 16 April failed to come up with a candidate for the post of vice-president. The parties could not agree on any of the three candidates presented: Kadege, Epitace Bayaganakandi from the MRC Rurenzangemero party and Terence Nsanze, the leader of the Abasa party. President Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, is due to hand over power to his deputy, Domitien Ndayizeye, a Hutu, on 1 May. Under the terms of the Arusha accord for peace and reconciliation, the vice-president during the second transitional phase is to be a Tutsi.