General elections were held in

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

on 20 May 2020 to elect both the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

Évariste Ndayishimiye General Évariste Ndayishimiye (born 1968) is a Burundian politician who has served as President of Burundi since 18 June 2020. He became involved in the rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy ...

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.

Electoral system

The president is elected for a seven-year term using the

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a second round will be held. 100 members of the

are elected for a five-year term from 18 multi-member constituencies based on the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

using the

closed list Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively only vote for political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some inf ...

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

system. Seats are allocated using the

d'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest- ...

with a national 2% electoral threshold. A further three members of the

Twa Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...

ethnic group are appointed, and more members are co-opted to ensure a 60–40 split between

Hutus The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the prin ...

and

Tutsis The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic grou ...

, and a 30% quota for female MPs.Elections held in 2005
IPU

Campaign

Incumbent President

Pierre Nkurunziza Pierre Nkurunziza (18 December 19648 June 2020) was a Burundian politician who served as the ninth president of Burundi for almost 15 years from August 2005 until his death in June 2020. A member of the Hutu ethnic group, Nkurunziza taught ph ...

, in power since 2005, announced in December 2018 that he would not contest the elections. In response, the main opposition alliance, CNARED, announced that they would return from exile in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

to participate in the elections for the first time since 2005. In January 2020, the CNDD–FDD chose the party's secretary general

as its presidential candidate. In February, the National Congress for Liberty selected

Agathon Rwasa Agathon Rwasa (born 10 January 1964) is a Burundian politician and the leader of the National Liberation Forces (''Forces pour la Libération Nationale'', FNL). He was a Hutu militia leader during the Burundi Civil War. Rwasa was reported to be ...

as their candidate. Gaston Sindimwo, the First Vice President of Burundi, announced he would run as the

Union for National Progress The Union for National Progress (french: Union pour le Progrès national, UPRONA) is a nationalist political party in Burundi. It initially emerged as a nationalist united front in opposition to Belgian colonial rule but subsequently became an i ...

nominee. Dieudonné Nahimana,

Léonce Ngendakumana Léonce Ngendakumana is a Burundian politician who was President of the National Assembly of Burundi from 1995–1996, and again from 1998–2002. He was born in 1954 in the province of Bujumbura, to a modest family. He launched his political car ...

, Francis Rohero and

Domitien Ndayizeye Domitien Ndayizeye (born 2 May 1953) is a Burundian politician who was President of Burundi from 2003 to 2005. He succeeded Pierre Buyoya, as president on 30 April 2003, after serving as Buyoya's vice president for 18 months. Ndayizeye remained in ...

also ran in the elections.

Conduct

In December 2017, the government introduced a voluntary election levy. However,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

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. 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.

Results

President

National Assembly

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

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. * National Congress for Liberty: The main opposition party filed a case at the

Constitutional Court of Burundi The Constitutional Court (french: Cour constitutionnelle) is the supreme authority on Burundi's constitutional law. The Constitutional Court deals with the interpretation of the Constitution of 2005 and is considered the country's second highest co ...

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 , image = , imagesize = , caption = , motto = , established = 30 November 2001 , country = 6 member states of the East African Community , location = Arusha, Tanzania , coordinates ...

if they are unsuccessful.

International

Due to the travel restrictions imposed by

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, there were almost no international observers present in the country. *

East African Community The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republics of Kenya, Burundi, ...

: 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." *

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

: 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."

References

{{Burundian elections

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Elections in Burundi

Presidential elections in Burundi