The coalition of opposition political parties in exile CNARED says it will not participate in the inter-Burundian talks scheduled from 26 November to 8 December in Arusha. The facilitation plans to repatriate the dialogue process in Burundi, which is a way to exclude opponents in exile, according to CNARED.
Pancrace Cimpaye, spokesman for CNARED “”CNARED cannot, under any circumstance, endorse plans to completely suspend the Arusha Peace Agreement”
“In consternation, CNARED has just learned that the facilitator in Burundi conflict invited some people to attend the inter-Burundian dialogue last session from November 26 to December 8, reads a statement released on 15 November.
According to Pancrace Cimpaye, the spokesman for CNARED, the objective of this session will be to analyze the mechanisms to repatriate the inter-Burundian dialogue process to Burundi in order to put it in the hands of President Nkurunziza. “CNARED cannot, under any circumstance, endorse plans to completely suspend the Arusha Peace Agreement. Nkurunziza has violated the Burundi constitution since he run for the third term and now he wants to amend it in order to govern Burundi until 2034,” says Cimpaye.
For him, repatriating the inter-Burundian dialogue process, shows that the facilitation seeks to exclude political opponents in exile including members of CNARED.
On 15 November, the senior adviser to the facilitator in inter-Burundian dialogue convened the 4th session of the inter-Burundian dialogue from 27 November to 8 December in Arusha, Tanzania.
“This invitation coincides with the unilateral cancellation of a consultation meeting between the facilitation and CNARED that was scheduled from 18 to 19 November, says the spokesperson for CNARED.
CNARED asks the UN, the EU. The AU and the East African Community not to support this Burundi Government’s plan which is deepening the current Burundi crisis.
For Abel Gashatsi, the chairman of the UPRONA party, he has not yet received an invitation to participate in this dialogue process but he says that he is ready to attend it once invited.
With regard to the repatriation of the peace talks’ process, he says that he hopes that the facilitation has taken necessary measures to invite all stakeholders in Burundi conflict. “I hope the UN, the government, the facilitation will have taken necessary steps to ensure the safety of all participants,” says Gashatsi.
Burundi has been experiencing a political crisis since April 2015 when the ruling CNDD-FDD party officially announced the candidacy of President Pierre Nkurunziza in the 2015 presidential elections which he won in July of the same year.
In March 2016, East African Community Heads of States appointed, the former Tanzanian president William Benjamin Mkapa to facilitate the inter-Burundian dialogue to find a solution to the Burundian crisis.
IWACU Open Data
