2020 Burundian general election

General elections were held in Burundi on 20 May 2020 to elect both the president and the National Assembly.[1] Évariste Ndayishimiye of the ruling CNDD–FDD was elected president with 71% of the vote. In the National Assembly elections, the CNDD–FDD won 72 of the 100 elected seats.

2020 Burundian general election

20 May 2020 (2020-05-20)
Turnout	87.71%
Presidential election
Nominee Évariste Ndayishimiye Agathon Rwasa Party CNDD–FDD CNL Popular vote 3,082,210 1,084,788 Percentage 71.45% 25.15%
Presidential election results map. Red denotes provinces won by Ndayishimiye, and Green denotes those won by Rwasa.
President before election Pierre Nkurunziza CNDD–FDD Elected President Évariste Ndayishimiye CNDD–FDD
National Assembly election
Party Leader % Seats ± CNDD–FDD Évariste Ndayishimiye 70.98% 72 -5 CNL Agathon Rwasa 23.41% 27 +6 UPRONA Gaston Sindimwo 2.54% 1 -1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Electoral system

The president is elected using the two-round system. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a second round will be held.[2] 100 members of the National Assembly are elected from 18 multi-member constituencies based on the provinces using the closed list proportional representation system. Seats are allocated using the d'Hondt method with a national 2% electoral threshold.[3] A further three members of the Twa ethnic group are appointed, and more members are co-opted to ensure a 60-40 split between Hutus and Tutsis, and a 30% quota for female MPs.[4]

Campaign

Incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza, in power since 2005, announced in December 2018 that he would not contest the elections.[5] In response, the main opposition alliance, CNARED, announced that they would return from exile in Belgium to participate in the elections for the first time since 2005.[6]

In January 2020, the CNDD–FDD chose the party's secretary general Évariste Ndayishimiye as its presidential candidate.[7] In February, the National Congress for Liberty selected Agathon Rwasa as their candidate.[8]

Gaston Sindimwo, the First Vice President of Burundi, announced he would run as the Union for National Progress nominee.

Dieudonné Nahimana,[9] Léonce Ngendakumana, Francis Rohero and Domitien Ndayizeye also ran in the elections.

Conduct

In December 2017, the government introduced a voluntary election levy. However, Human Rights Watch accused the youth wing of the ruling CNDD–FDD and local government officials of extorting the money from citizens in the buildup to the elections, sometimes demanding the donation multiple times.[10]

According to the Burundi Human Rights Initiative, election day was marred by irregularities including the arrests of opposition leaders and people voting multiple times. Long queues formed at polling stations.[11]

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Évariste Ndayishimiye	CNDD–FDD	3,082,210	71.45
	Agathon Rwasa	National Congress for Liberty	1,084,788	25.15
	Gaston Sindimwo	Union for National Progress	73,353	1.70
	Domitien Ndayizeye	Kira Burundi Coalition	24,470	0.57
	Léonce Ngendakumana	Front for Democracy in Burundi	21,232	0.49
	Dieudonné Nahimana	Independent	18,709	0.43
	Francis Rohero	Independent	8,942	0.21
Invalid/blank votes			171,224	–
Total			4,484,928	100
Registered voters/turnout			5,113,418	87.71
Source: CENI

National Assembly

The three Twa representatives were from the ASSEJEBA, UJEDECO and UNIPROBA parties.[12]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Elected	Coopted	Total
	CNDD–FDD	3,036,286	70.98	72	14	86
	National Congress for Liberty	1,001,230	23.41	27	5	32
	Union for National Progress	108,865	2.54	1	1	2
	Front for Democracy in Burundi	31,106	0.73	0	0	0
	National Forces of Liberation	17,842	0.42	0	0	0
	Front for Democracy in Burundi–Nyakuri	15,547	0.36	0	0	0
	Kira Burundi Coalition	10,072	0.24	0	0	0
	Alliance for Peace, Democracy and Reconciliation	6,623	0.15	0	0	0
	COPA 2020	2,599	0.06	0	0	0
	Council of Patriots	2,371	0.06	0	0	0
	Union for Peace and Democracy–Zigamibanga	2,311	0.05	0	0	0
	Sangwe PADER	2,142	0.05	0	0	0
	National People's Front–Imbonenza	1,399	0.03	0	0	0
	Independents	39,261	0.92	0	0	0
	Co-opted Twa members	–	–	–	3	3
Invalid/blank votes		186,705	–	–	–	–
Total		4,464,359	100	100	23	123
Registered voters/turnout		5,113,418	87.31	–	–	–
Source: CENI

Reactions

Domestic

• Conference of Bishops of Burundi: Issued a statement criticizing the transparency and freedom of the election process. The church deployed around 2,716 observers across Burundi's 119 municipalities. The conference's observers witnessed intimidation and expulsion of opposition observers from the polling and vote counting stations. The church condemned the ruling party for engaging in national election fraud.[13][14]
• National Congress for Liberty: The main opposition party filed a case at the Constitutional Court of Burundi challenging the elections and accusing the ruling factions of electoral fraud. The party says they have various instances of evidence where ballot stuffing was conducted. The party aims to take the case to the East African Court of Justice if they are unsuccessful.[14][15]

International

Due to the travel restrictions imposed by COVID-19 pandemic, there were almost no international observers present in the country.

• East African Community: Gave the election a clean bill and expressed its support towards Burundi holding peaceful elections. The body issued a statement saying that "The 2020 Burundi elections hold an iconic place in the history of the nation, marking this the first peaceful and democratic transfer of power. More significantly, the process was domestically driven through own funding. The peaceful conclusion of the electoral process will not only be a big win for the people of Burundi, but for the East African Community as a region."[16]
• Amnesty International: Condemned the conditions leading up to the election saying that “There were continued reports of killings, arbitrary arrests, beatings and disappearances of opposition members, as well as social media censorship on election day."[17]

References

1. Burundi’s main opposition leader announces election bid Andalou, 18 November 2019
2. Republic of Burundi: Election for President IFES
3. Electoral system IPU
4. Elections held in 2005 IPU
5. Nkurunziza rules out running again Development and Cooperation, 2 October 2019
6. Burundi's Exiled Main Opposition Alliance Plans to Participate in 2020 Vote VOA News, 16 December 2019
7. Burundi ruling party picks Ndayishimiye as candidate in May poll Al-Jazeera, 26 January 2020
8. Burundi opposition party picks Agathon Rwasa to run for president Al Jazeera, 16 February 2020
9. Griffin, Jo (2020-03-10). "'Not just where people kill each other': the man hoping to transform Burundi". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
10. Burundi: Elections ‘Levy’ Opens Door to Abuse Human Rights Watch, 6 December 2019
11. Burundians vote despite coronavirus outbreak Deutsche Welle, 20 May 2020
12. Arret RCCD 388 du 04 juin 2020, les resultats defintifs de l'election des deputes CENI
13. "Burundi bishops denounce suspect presidential election". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
14. "Burundi opposition takes presidential election dispute to court". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
15. "Burundi's rigged election". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
16. "Burundi election results: What next?". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
17. comparative, Isabelle AboafMajoring in Government at Cornell University with an interest in; politics, U. S.; Institutions, International; Methodology, Political (2020-05-29). "Burundi Elects New President Amid Concerns Over Election Integrity". The Organization for World Peace. Retrieved 2020-05-30.