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Burundi's Constitutional Court to decide on Nkurunziza's candidacy

Xinhua, March 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

As there are two sides disagreeing on terms already served by Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, the country's Constitutional Court will decide whether he can run again, a senior official at the Burundian president's office said Monday in a press briefing.

Willy Nyamitwe, the senior adviser in charge of communication at the President's Office, held the press briefing in reaction to a message of Burundian Roman Catholic Bishops read Sunday throughout churches countrywide, opposing third term plans of President Pierre Nkurunziza.

According to him, the country has institutions that can settle the issue of terms as there are two opposing views on the possibility of Nkurunziza's new term.

The Burundian Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops Sunday issued a message to Roman Catholics where they said that they are opposed to plans of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza to run a third term during the forthcoming elections.

"Considering the Arusha Agreement and the Burundian Constitution, after a deep reflection and considering that we no longer need the return of hatred and violence in our beloved country, we, the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in Burundi, say no to a Burundian president who would plan to go beyond two terms of five years each," said the message signed by eight bishops.

According to the declaration, the Burundian constitution should be understood from the Arusha Agreement perspective.

The bishops' message indicated that the Arusha Agreement is explicit on the president's terms as it stipulates that no president should be in power for more than two terms of five years each.

The Roman Catholic Church represents at least 80 percent of Burundian citizens.

While suggesting that a president cannot serve the country for more than two terms, the Burundian Constitution is not clear on how many terms Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has already served, as he was elected by the Parliament in 2005 and directly re-elected by citizens in 2010.

Burundi is to hold this year general elections between May and September, with the presidential election to be held on June 26. Endi