The overwhelming majority of participants in the inter-Burundian dialogue sessions led by the CNDI wish for the suppression of presidential term limit and the predominance of the Burundian Constitution over the Arusha Peace Agreement. While the radical opposition dismisses the report, it is unclear whether those views are really representative of the majority of Burundians’ opinions.
CNDI President Bishop Justin Nzoyisaba
The vast majority of participants want the President of the Republic to exercise more than two terms and the Constitution to override the Arusha Peace Agreement.The latter were two of the key points in the report presented last Wednesday by the National Commission for the Inter-Burundian Dialogue (CNDI) during dialogue sessions organised by the commission for different groups of the society in many parts of Burundi.
Journalists raised statistical and methodological questionsabout the report. For example, what does “the vast majority of participants” stand for, precisely? Given that almost all the participants converged on the same opinions, did the sampling process ensure that different views were represented? The CNDI chairman could not give satisfactory answers to those questions. ”If we say all, it’s all (…) if you have heard anyone who had a different opinion, tell us”, replied Bishop Justin Nzoyisaba, the CNDI president.
The CNDI report was dismissed by the main opposition leader as both a shame and tragedy. Léonce Ngendakumana deplored the fact that the CNDI presented the conclusions as representing the views of Burundians; whereas, the Constitution is clear as to how the Burundian people decide: either directly through a referendum or indirectly through the parliament. And the latter has already rejected the amendment of the constitution proposed by president Nkurunziza in March 2014. He also shamed Bishop Nzoyisaba “who, being supposed to talk on behalf of the suffering citizens, published a release that insists exclusively on the fact that president Pierre Nkurunziza has to remain on power all the rest of his life”.
According to Ngendakumana, the CNIDH president ignored the real preoccupations of Burundians namely war and murders observed on a daily basis, kidnapping cases, forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, the economy at bay, a failing fundamental educational system that might send one hundred fifty thousand pupils and school children to the street. His conclusion was that the report shows that CNDI is not working for the Burundian people but rather a handful of people on power in Bujumbura who mandated the commission. In his words, that’s what some feared from the creation of the commission.
As for Jean de Dieu Mutabazi, a pro-governmental opposition leader, takes no issue with the report since the CNDI “faithfully reproduced the wish of the population that was represented at all levels”.
The report was partial since the commission has not yet reached all the intended population. After the dialogue between Burundians living in the country is over, the commission will extend its mission to those living in exile and refugee camps.
The CNDI was created in October 2015 by a presidential decree. Its mission is to lead a dialogue between Burundians to help find solution to problems that plague their country. The dialogue sessions were held while a number of leaders of the opposition and civil society organizations were exiled following the crisis that resulted from the resistance to president Nkurunziza’s desire to run for a third term in April 2015.
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