COMMUNIQUE No 24/2015 OF THE CNDD-FDD PARTY OF JUNE 23rd, 2015

1. The CNDD-FDD party appreciates the steps made so far in the preparation of the forthcoming elections and the way the international community has closely monitored the current situation in Burundi through various meetings held in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and in South Africa, and above all because those meetings insisted on the respect of the Burundian Constitution

2. From this point of view, the CNDD-FDD party is surprised to hear about some politicians who are still requesting for the rescheduling of the electoral calendar. What time limit do they refer to? They say that they want an electoral calendar from a consensus between all political actors. We have always said that it is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution that the preparation of the electoral calendar is a politicians’ task. That is rather the Independent National Electoral Commission’s responsibility as stated in the Article 91 of the Constitution. The Independent National Electoral Commission has done its job by even involving the electoral process stakeholders in a meeting that was held on June 08^th, 2015 to discuss the issue. Contributions from the meeting were used as the milestone for the current electoral calendar, which does not allow any further postponement according to the Constitution.

3. Concerning the appointment of Mr. Abdulaye Bathily by the United Nations as the new Facilitator, theCNDD-FDD party is grateful to the concern of the international community on Burundi, but in our view point, instead of rushing on organising meetings while we have only five days before the elections, it would be better for the new Facilitator to start with investigations by meeting all stakeholders in order to find out himself the real situation rather than relying on what he reads from inaccurate reports written by the many untruthful writers present in Burundi. This is the only way to expect a fruitful outcome from the meeting.

4. It is for this reason that the CNDD-FDD party informs the national and the international community that its priority for the moment is the electoral campaign for the municipal and legislative elections that still have three days before the deadline, and the electoral campaign for the CNDD-FDD party’s presidential candidate, which will start in only two days from now.  The CNDD-FDD party therefore informs that it will not respond to the political dialogue during this period because this would distract and disorient the electoral process. In fact, there is a say in Kirundi that can be translated as ‘‘None can run two hares at a go’’. It is not possible to participate in both the electoral campaign and the political dialogue at the same time.

5. Moreover, as it was declared in various meetings, the key to the inter-Burundian political dialogue is in the hands of the leaders of the East African Community (EAC), but according to hearsays, the dialogue meetings are being prepared in a hurry without involving the EAC leaders, which means there is a hidden agenda. Whoever want to hinder the electoral process, be it a Burundian or a foreigner, the CNDD-FDDparty gives him the same consideration as those who attempted to overthrow the power in a coup d’Etat on May 13^th, 2015.

6. The CNDD-FDD party urges all Burundians, particularly its members ‘‘Abagumyabanga’’ to remain calm and continue preparing themselves for the elections, because they must take place as scheduled. TheCNDD-FDD party urges the security institutions to take severe measures against any troublemaker during the elections so that Burundians can elect institutions that will lead them in accordance with the Constitution.

   Done in Bujumbura, on June 23^rd, 2015
   Honourable Pascal Nyabenda,
   Chairman of the CNDD-FDD party