Burundi is not ready for parliamentary or presidential elections next month because the government is curtailing freedoms including preventing the opposition from campaigning, ABC News quoted a leading opposition candidate as saying Monday.

Protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term continued in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.

Nkurunziza cannot win if the elections are free and fair, said Agathon Rwasa, who is running as an independent candidate in the June 26 elections.

Rwasa, the leader of a former rebel group National Forces for Liberation who is now an opposition politician, said there is widespread intimidation of those opposed to Nkurunziza.

"I don't believe elections can be held in this environment," Rwasa said.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled for June 5, while presidential polls are slated for June 26.