Draft accord criticises Belgium, reduces presidential powers

The draft accord describes Burundi’s conflict as “fundamentally political with ethnic dimensions that are extremely important”, Hirondelle said. It strongly criticises Burundi’s former colonial powers - Germany and particularly Belgium - for “playing a determining role in fuelling the frustrations of the Bahutu, the Batutsi and the Batwa, and in the divisions that led to ethnic tensions”. “In the context of a divide and rule strategy, the colonial administration injected and imposed a racist and caricatured vision of Burundi society.” The draft also condemned Belgium’s introduction of ethnic identity cards in the 1930s which “strengthened the perceptions of ethnic differences”. The Belgian news agency Belga said the comments took Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel “by surprise”. He was quoted as saying that this was “victimisation and an attempt to pass the blame off on someone else”.

The draft has a number of built-in checks and balances to ensure that the future transitional president will not have the powers that President Pierre Buyoya currently enjoys, Hirondelle added. The president and first vice-president will come from different ethnicities and political parties, and the president will not be able to take any major decisions unilaterally. Parliament will have “considerable” powers, Hirondelle said, including the ability to amend laws on a two-thirds majority. Finally, the transitional president will not be eligible for election in the ensuing presidential polls.