Burundi's National Assembly passed a bill on Wednesday that elevates President Pierre Nkurunziza to the rank of "supreme guide to patriotism", who decided not to stand for re-election in the May 20 presidential election.
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This text, presented by the Minister of Justice, Aimée-Laurentine Kanyana, was adopted by "91 votes in favor, 4 against and 13 abstentions" , announced the President of the National Assembly, Pascal Nyabenda, after the vote. It also institutes "a national patriotism day organized each year in July and chaired by the Supreme Guide to Patriotism" . Pierre Nkurunziza will be consulted in this regard in the future “on questions relating to the safeguarding of national independence, the consolidation of patriotism and national unity” , specifies this text. It also provides, alongside the golden retirement to which it will be entitled, "support measures" which should enable it to carry out its mission.
(Very) golden parachute
The Assembly had adopted in January a bill granting President Nkurunziza many advantages at the end of his mandate: a "very high standing" villa, an allowance of around 500,000 euros and for the rest of his life a compensation equal to the fees of a deputy. These benefits, in a country where 75% of the population lives below the poverty line, had been called "indecent" by the opposition.
Opposition MP Fabien Banciryanino told AFP that he voted against the text presented on Wednesday and explained this to the assembly. "I explained that since he was in power, serious crimes have been committed, every week we find bodies of people killed, the country has become one of the poorest and most corrupt in the world (.. .). I think he should rather answer for all these acts before the courts, " he said.
A crisis that drags on
Burundi has been in crisis since President Nkurunziza announced in April 2015 his candidacy for a controversial third term. He was re-elected in July of the same year. The violence and repression that accompanied the crisis would have killed at least 1,200 people and displaced more than 400,000 people between April 2015 and May 2017, according to estimates by the International Criminal Court, which opened an investigation.
In power since 2005, Mr. Nkurunziza surprised by announcing in June 2018 that he would not stand for succession in 2020, when the new Constitution amended by referendum allowed him. The ruling party, the CNDD-FDD, chose to try to succeed one of his relatives, General Evariste Ndayishimiye.
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