Off the wire
• FLASH: GREEK PM CALLS REFERENDUM ON DEBT DEAL FOR SUNDAY JULY 5  • UN chief slams attack against peace mission base in Somalia  • Chinese developer gets Indian investment for 2.7-billion-U.S. dollar London project  • Council of Europe condemns deadly attacks in France, Tunisia, Kuwait  • Slovak parliament agrees to accession to Convention on Cluster Munitions  • Security Council condemns terrorist attacks in Tunisia, Kuwait, France  • PACE closes plenary session with call for protection of critical infrastructure  • Lisbon subway employees stage eighth strike this year  • Chicago agricultural commodities extend gain on short-covering  • Feature: Rare two-headed dragon lizard stuns pet owner  
You are here: 　 Home

Security Council calls on Burundian parties to participate in dialogue

Xinhua, June 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council on Friday called on Burundian parties to urgently participate in an inclusive dialogue which should focus on the measures to be taken to create conditions for transparent and credible elections.

In a presidential statement adopted here, the 15-member body expressed its deep concern regarding the grave security and political situation in Burundi against the backdrop of the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

The Security Council held an emergency meeting on Burundi on Friday afternoon, at which Burundi's Ambassador Albert Shingiro told the council that elections will go ahead as planned on Monday despite the appeal from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Friday morning to Burundian authorities to further postpone the elections.

"The government simply cannot accept to tumble head first into an institutional vacuum, into a chasm," he explained.

Reports said Burundian opposition parties would boycott Burundi 's elections against President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term which exceeds the constitutional limit of two terms.

On Thursday, there were two separate grenade explosions in the city center of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, killing at least seven people.

The blasts came two days after the Burundian ruling party said it would not participate in the political dialogue "because this would distract and disorient the electoral process," according to its Chairman Pascal Nyabenda.

The statement was made as the dialogue resumed Tuesday under the leadership of Abdoulaye Bathily, UN Secretary-General's special envoy and new facilitator in Burundi's crisis in replacement of Said Djinnit who resigned last week.

Earlier this month, Burundian government postponed presidential elections from June 26 to July 15 under the pressure from home and abroad. The country is scheduled to hold legislative and communal elections on Monday. Endite