Burundi president says will run for 2020 presidency if citizens request
Xinhua, December 30, 2016 Adjust font size:
Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza said Friday the country's citizens have the last word on whether he will run for presidency in 2020.
"Burundian citizens will decide through the national constitution which is soon to be amended. If they request me to run again for presidency in 2020, I will not betray their will," Nkurunziza responded to a question by a journalist during a live radio program.
At his inauguration in August 2015, Nkurunziza had however promised that he would not run again for presidency in 2020 in accordance with the ruling from the Burundian Constitutional Court and the East African Court of Justice.
"The promise was made in a specific context that can change in case citizens make the request. The wish of citizens is more important than that of courts and tribunals," said Nkurunziza.
Referring to terms of presidents in countries like Cameroon, Chad, Senegal and Rwanda, Nkurunziza declared that presidential terms "should not be" an issue, stressing that the "real issue" was good leadership.
Burundi plunged into a crisis since April 2015 when Nkurunziza decided to run his controversial third term in violation of the national constitution and the 2000 Arusha Agreement that ended a decade-long civil war.
More than 500 people in Burundi have been killed and about 300,000 people fled to neighboring countries, mostly Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and Uganda since the outbreak of the crisis. Endit