Burundi: All ready for controversial vote

Burundi's national electoral commission said Sunday all voting material was ready and had been delivered a day ahead of key polls in the central African nation, despite weeks of unrest.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for Monday's elections to be delayed after the opposition said they would not take part, as Burundi faces its worst crisis since its civil war ended nine years ago.

"Everything is ready in the country," election commission chief Pierre-Claver Ndayicariye told reporters Sunday, saying all voting material had been delivered to voting centres, with over 11,000 polling stations across the country.

Three people were killed overnight Saturday, adding to the more than 70 killed in weeks of violence and a failed coup sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid to stay in power for a third term.
The opposition on Friday said it was boycotting the polls, claiming it is not possible to hold a fair vote, with over 127,000 people having fled into neighbouring countries, fearing further violence.

Parliamentary and local elections are set to be held on Monday, and a presidential vote on July 15.

But Ndayicariye said the commission had not received any official notification confirming the boycott, meaning that the election would therefore progress without delay. Votes cast for the opposition would therefore still count, he said.

"This is nothing new in Burundi. In Africa, boycott is another way of doing politics," he said. The opposition boycotted polls in 2010.
Burundi was plunged into turmoil in late April when Nkurunziza launched his drive for a third consecutive five-year term, triggering widespread protests.

Opponents say his bid for another term is unconstitutional and violates a peace accord that paved the way to end 13 years of civil war in 2006.

Civil society groups backed the boycott in a joint statement calling on voters to skip the "sham elections" and urging the international community "not to recognise the validity" of the polls.