Burundi's ruling party wins every seat in the polls as competitors say democracy “kills”

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Burundi's ruling party wins every seat in the polls as competitors say democracy “kills”

Presidential party has tightened its power for 20 years [AFP via Getty Images]

Burundi's ruling party won all 100 seats in parliamentary elections, with opposition saying “killing” democracy in Central African countries.

Election Commission head Prosper Ntahorwamiye said giving temporary results from last week's polls that the CNDD-FDD party received more than 96% of the votes in all provinces.

He added that the election had only “some minor violations”.

The opposition Uprona party ranked second with more than 1% of the vote. The party denounced the election as manipulated, and its leader Olivier Nkurunziza told AFP: “We killed the democracy.”

The main opposition National Liberty Congress (CNL) ranked third, receiving only 0.6% of the vote.

The campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the results showed that Burundi “digled” democracy in Burundi.

It added that CNDD-FDD has been in power since 2005, “trying to tear down all meaningful oppositions,” including its biggest rival, CNL.

Freedom of speech in Burundi is restricted, and critics say the polls are conducted after a protracted campaign of intimidation and harassment.

Voters expressed doubts about the BBC on condition of anonymity, who suspected that the ruling party had such great support in economic hardship.

HRW said election observers from the Catholic Church were turned away.

Meanwhile, the African Union has praised the “proclaimed peace” for its “freedom and transparency” of the poll.

The main city of Bujibra shows little signs of celebration after the interim results were announced on Wednesday, reporters said.

The Election Commission said the results will be submitted to the Constitutional Court, which must then be certified and provided by June 20.

“There are some minor violations – the shortcomings that have been addressed – because you know, nothing is completely perfect,” Ntahorwamiye said.

Consistent with the Arusha Agreement ended more than twenty years ago, the ethnic composition of the country's parliament must reflect the proportion of Hutes, Tutsis and Twa people in the entire population.

After this month’s vote count, the Election Commission announced that it would create and fill 11 seats to make up for the imbalance – which would bring the total number of members of Congress to 111.