Burundian opposition activists suspend government talks
Opposition activists in Burundi have suspended talks with the government following the assassination of an opposition party leader by unknown assailants in the capital, Bujumbura.
Zedi Feruzi, the head of the Union for Peace and Democracy (UPD) party, was shot dead along with his bodyguard while on his way home in the central district of Ngagara late on Saturday.
In a statement released on Sunday, the opposition activists denounced as “an awful act” Feruzi’s murder, saying they were “suspending participation in dialogue with the government.”
They also alleged that the assassination could have been part of a “plan to physically eliminate” leaders of the campaign against President Pierre Nkurunziza.
The attack was the latest in a series of violent incidents in the Central African nation, which has witnessed days of protests against Nkurunziza’s controversial bid for a third term in office.
Nearly 30 people have died in clashes with security forces over the past few weeks.
The National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy, which is the ruling party in Burundi and known by its French acronym CNDD-FDD, has designated Nkurunziza as its candidate for the June 26 presidential election.
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Burundi’s opposition argues that the bid both runs against the constitution and the Arusha Agreements, which ended the civil war of 1993 that lasted about a dozen years and claimed the lives of over 250,000 people.
Under Burundi’s constitution, presidents are limited to serving only two full terms. Supporters of Nkurunziza argue that his first term does not count due to the fact that he was selected by the parliament at the time.
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