Deadlocked power-sharing talks extended to Thursday

Deadlocked negotiations between the representatives of Burundian political parties in Pretoria, South Africa, have been extended to Thursday.

Henri Boshoff, an analyst with the Institute for Security Studies, a Pretoria-based think-tank, said discussions around the post-election power-sharing arrangements had been "deadlocked since Monday night".

He said the Tutsi-dominated UPRONA political party's insistence on a larger share of the government after elections, likely to be held in November, was the reason for the impasse.

According to the South African-brokered Peace and Reconciliation Accord, signed in August 2000 in Arusha, Tanzania, a Tutsi president would head Burundi for the first 18-month phase, with a Hutu president in the second half; the government would be 60 percent Hutu and 40 percent Tutsi; parliament would have the same ratio; and the Senate and the army would be 50 percent Hutu and 50 percent Tutsi.

"UPRONA wants 70 percent of the 40 percent share allocated for the Tutsis," Boshoff said, but the South African government had been trying to reason with UPRONA that they could not seek such guarantees ahead of the elections. "They have been putting considerable pressure on the Burundians to resolve the issue. If there is no resolution by Thursday, the talks are expected to continue through to the weekend," he added.

Pierre Nkurunziza, leader of the Hutu-dominated Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD), told IRIN on Monday that UPRONA wanted the entire 40 percent share of government allocated to the Tutsis for itself.

Burundi stakeholders at the talks include President Domitien Ndayizeye and members of the government, as well as representatives of the UPRONA and FRODEBU political parties.