BUJUMBURA , Burundi, July 24 (UPI) — Incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza was re-elected as Burundi’s president, the electoral commission announced Friday.
Nkurunziza, running for his third term despite a two-term constitutional limit, captured 69.41 percent of the vote, with Agathon Rwasa second with 18.99 percent in an election marred by violence and boycott. The result was not a surprise.
The tiny central African country, landlocked poverty-stricken with a population of 10 million, voted Tuesday, after weeks of demonstrations, an attempted coup, violence between Burundi’s army and rebel militias and oppression of opposition protesters by security forces. Dozens were killed and about 175,000 people escaped to neighboring countries.
Opposition parties boycotted the election, which they claimed was rigged to favor Nkurunziza, and election monitors from human rights groups and the African Union also refrained from sending inspectors, claiming the prolonged violence in the country precluded a fair election.
Top officials have left the Nkurunziza administration, and the United States and other world powers decried his attempt at a third term; Nkurunziza claims that, since his first term in office was arranged by the legislature and not by voters, it should not count as one of his two permitted terms.
“We have our constitution. Burundi isn’t trying to interpret the United States’ constitution, or Belgium’s or France’s or other countries,” said presidential spokesman Willy Nyamitwe.
Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.