Burundi First Vice President accuses the facilitation in the Burundi conflict of creating political problems by inviting unregistered political parties and coup plotters in the next dialogue scheduled from 16 to 18 February in Arusha, Tanzania.
Gaston Sindimwo, Burundi First Vice-President “If the facilitation has seen fit to invite the people who took up arms against the Burundian institutions, the Government will have a say.”
The facilitation team led by President William Benjamin Mkapa is responsible for holding the inter-Burundi dialogue for Burundians living outside the country. “If the facilitation has seen fit to invite the people who took up arms against the Burundian institutions, the Government will have a say,” Gaston Sindimwo, the 1st Vice-President of the Republic of Burundi told Iwacu on 13 February.
Sindimwo criticizes the facilitation of ignoring its competences because it invited the members of the political parties that are not officially recognized by the government.
Gaston says the current Burundi crisis originated in the 2015 elections, only the political parties that went to those polls should be invited in the inter-Burundi dialogue. «The facilitation wants to create another political crisis. I do not understand how they dared to invite the rebel wing of CNDD-FDD, UPRONA-Amizero y’Abarundi, FNL-Amizero y’Abarundi, when these political parties do not exist, “he says.
The 1st Vice-President says, however, the Government will take part in the next inter-Burundi dialogue session, even if he did not want to give more details. “The Burundian Government supports the efforts of the mediation and cannot be absent in a forum where they talk about Burundi,” he says.
Tatien Sibomana, a member of UPRONA party, the wing not recognized by Burundi Government welcomes the decision of the facilitation to invite all the actors in Burundi conflict. “As we have always requested, we hope that an inclusive inter-Burundi dialogue will result in a truly sustainable solution to the current Burundi crisis,” Sibomana says.
On a list of participants in the next session of the inter-Burundi dialogue scheduled to take place in Arusha in Tanzania from 16 to 18 February, there are new figures of the opposition political parties that were not invited to the other four dialogue rounds already held. Among these participants, there are leaders of political parties not recognized by Burundi Government. We give the example of FNL Amizero y’Abarundi, the wing led by Agathon Rwasa, UPRONA Amizero y’Abarundi, the wing led by Charles Nditije and former members of CNDD-FDD, the ruling party. The chairpersons and deputy-chairpersons of these opposition parties have been invited to the upcoming Arusha talks.
The Inter-Burundi dialogue led by the mediator, Ugandan President Kaguta Yoweri Museveni and facilitator William Benjamin Mkapa was initiated by the East African Community to try to find a solution to the current Burundi crisis which has erupted since the ruling party CNDD-FDD officially presented President Pierre Nkurunziza as a candidate in the 2015 presidential elections. According to UN reports, this crisis triggered the death of over 500 people and forced over 350,000 Burundians to flee abroad.
IWACU Open Data
