Another date set for constitutional referendum

Burundi's National Independent Electoral Commission announced a new date on Tuesday for the constitutional referendum, a key step in the country's transition to democracy. The referendum is to be held on 28 February, Commission Chairman Paul Ngarambe announced in Bujumbura in separate meetings with civic society and political parties. The plebiscite was initially set for October 2004, and then postponed to 26 November and then again to 22 December. In December, it was delayed yet again, but with no new date being set until now. Ngarambe said one of the reasons the commission had to delay the ballot was that voter lists had not been completed. In the last two weeks the lists were put on public display, although many voters voiced complaints. Some names were omitted from the lists. Others on lists in one province appeared on the lists in another province. Ngarambe said the commission would seek to make all necessary corrections. A new date for the general elections could still not be fixed, Ngarambe said. Local elections had been set for February followed by legislative elections in March and presidential polls in April. "Legal and financial problems still need to be settled," he said. The commission has received electoral equipment from South Africa, but it has only secured US $12 million of the $22 million it needs to hold all the polls, Ngarambe said. "That is just enough to organise the referendum," he added. The current transitional government needs to agree on an electoral code and a communal law before elections can proceed. Members of some political parties are openly questioning the commission's independence from the government and say they remain skeptical that the referendum will take place on 28 February. They suspect members of the government may be seeking to delay the referendum so they can make amendments to the constitution, including one that would allow the current head of state, Domitien Ndayizeye, to run for president.