“Team spirit needed” - Analyst

An analyst on Burundi issues, Jan Van Eck, says however, that what Burundi needs at this point is “team spirit”. “A tremendous amount of work is yet to be done. But it all calls for a genuine team spirit of both Hutus and the Tutsis in the wider sense, and that of President Pierre Buyoya and Hutu leader Domitien Ndayizeye in particular,” he told IRIN in an interview. “They must realise that they are in this together.” “There is a problem of mistrust. Neither side trusts the other,” he explained. “Each side fears that the other will misbehave as before,” he said. “Already there is a misunderstanding that the conditionalities are only to be met or observed by Buyoya. The truth of the matter is that they are to be observed and met by the transitional leaders, hence were agreed to by both Buyoya and Ndayizeye,” he said. Van Eck said that although the Arusha component of the country’s peace process had come to a completion with the “fragile agreement” of Buyoya as leader of the first half of the transition period [18 months], the Libreville process which is to allow armed groups to participate in the negotiation of a ceasefire was just starting. In his view, it was encouraging that at least “the armed groups are expressing a desire to meet”. “A ceasefire is the most critical item needed. Efforts towards should be accelerated and intensified.,” Van Eck said. He, however, pointed out that meeting slated for 13 August may not take place if the issues of the Gabonese President Omar Bongo as co-facilitator and the venue of the talks will not have been resolved by Burundi peace facilitator, Nelson Mandela. According to him, the international community need to take supportive measures to ensure that the results of the peace process show real signs of viability. “Unless the international community does more to bring in assistance to support the transitional government, then it would be a threat for its survival,” he noted. As the country stands now, there is the collapse of the economy, and even internal resistance and that is why the international community must come in with assistance to ensure that that which has been achieved so far in the peace process holds.