Parties split over new power-sharing arrangements

Despite the expected arrival on Monday in Burundi of South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who is also the facilitator of the Burundi peace process, and an announcement by President Domitien Ndayizeye that a consensus had been reached on the country's post-transition power-sharing, a split has emerged over the agreement with several political parties dismissing last week's talks in Pretoria as "a total failure". On arrival from Pretoria on Thursday, Ndayizeye told reporters in the capital, Bujumbura, that the Pretoria talks had yielded a significant breakthrough in the country's post-transition power-sharing arrangements. Zuma is expected in Bujumbura to help "salvage" the post-poll power-sharing agreement reached between two of Burundi's three political parties. Ndayizeye announced that the three main political parties, the Front pour la democratie au Burundi (Frodebu), the Union pour le progres national (Uprona) and the former rebel Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces de defense de la democratie CNDD-FDD of Pierre Nkurunziza, had reached agreement based on the stipulations of the Peace and Reconciliation Accord signed in August 2000 in Arusha, Tanzania. "Except for some minor arrangements, we kept the Arusha accord for peace and reconciliation", he said. He added that the three parties had agreed on the 60 percent–40 percent power-sharing ratio between the Hutus and Tutsis in the government and in the National Assembly, except for the Senate, which would be 50 percent Hutu and 50 percent Tutsi. Ndayizeye maintained that the power-sharing agreement had also taken into consideration minority groups such as women, the Batwa and the Ganwa (descendants of the Burundian royal family). Women would get 30 percent of the seats in the National Assembly and in the Senate, while the representation of the Batwa and the Ganwa would at least reach 10 percent. He said they had also agreed on an electoral system of one-man one vote, except for the first mandate, for which the president would be elected by parliament. Two vice-presidents from different ethnic communities would assist the president. However, several political parties have rejected the outcome of the Pretoria talks. In a statement issued on Thursday, Vice-President Alphonse Marie Kadege, whose Uprona party was represented in the Pretoria talks, termed the Pretoria negotiations a total failure. "The failure of the negotiations was unavoidable as long as the mediation favoured the proposals of one side [meaning Frodebu and CNDD-FDD]," Kadege said. The Uprona statement alleged that the parties composed of Tutsis were just concerned with their own survival in a political system where the Hutu parties had total control of the country's institutions. "Their [Tutsi parties'] insistence on taking part in the country's institutions to influence decisions is not a luxury but a means to ensure their survival," Kadege said. Zenon Nimubona, the spokesman of the Parti pour le redressement national (Parena) of former President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, told IRIN on Thursday that the Pretoria agreement "with its power-sharing ratio simply promotes the inequality of ethnic communities". At a news conference on Wednesday, Joseph Karumba, the leader of the Front national de liberation (Frolina), said the Pretoria negotiations were a manifestation of a system of exclusion in place for decades when "leaders of political parties should have been there just to give another picture and hope to all Burundians". Ndayizeye, Jean Minani from Frodebu, Jean-Baptiste Manwangari from Uprona and Nkurunzia from the CNDD-FDD attended the Pretoria talks held from 18 June to 21 June. The talks were held only four months before the end of Burundi's transitional period. However, so far, the post-transition constitution has not yet been drafted for adoption. During its 19th session recently, the Implementation and Monitoring Committee of the Arusha Accord urged the government prepare the post-transition texts by 31 July, failing which the committee would appoint national and international experts to draft the constitution of political parties should have been there just to give another picture and hope to all Burundians". Ndayizeye, Jean Minani from Frodebu, Jean-Baptiste Manwangari from Uprona and Nkurunzia from the CNDD-FDD attended the Pretoria talks held from 18 June to 21 June. The talks were held only four months before the end of Burundi's transitional period. However, so far, the post-transition constitution has not yet been drafted for adoption. During its 19th session recently, the Implementation and Monitoring Committee of the Arusha Accord urged the government prepare the post-transition texts by 31 July, failing which the committee would appoint national and international experts to draft the constitution.