Government News: Top Stories

Burundi's Hutu President fires Tutsi Vice President in move that could imperil African nation's fragile power-sharing agreement
by Judith Basutama

THe Associated Press Translate This Article
10 November 2004

BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) - Burundi's Hutu President Domitien Ndayizeye sacked his Tutsi vice president on Wednesday, accusing him of undermining efforts to end the country's 11-year civil war in a move that threatened to imperil an already fragile power-sharing agreement.

Vice President Alphonse Kadege was dismissed for failing to support a referendum on Burundi's constitution, presidential spokesman Pancrace Cimpaye told The Associated Press.

A permanent constitution—to replace an interim constitution that expired Nov. 1—is a key step in a peace agreement brokered in talks in 2000 to bring an end to more than a decade of civil war. The peace deal also calls for the main Hutu and Tutsi parties to share the presidency and vice presidency, and the dismissal of a key member of the most influential Tutsi party could undermine the country's peace process.

Leaders of Burundi's main Tutsi party were to meet with Ndayizeye later Wednesday to discuss the political crisis, Jean-Baptiste Manwangari, leader of the Uprona party, told the AP. ``That meeting will determine how we react to this development ... whether we stay in government or leave will depend on what solutions he proposes.''

Tutsis—who have mostly controlled Burundi's government and military since independence from Belgium in 1962—want the constitution amended, saying it currently favors Hutus at the expense of parties representing Tutsis. The charter divides power in government and parliament, giving 60 percent of seats to the majority Hutus and 40 percent to the minority Tutsis.

Tutsi-led parties want constitutional guarantees that the Tutsi share in government will go to their parties, and not to Tutsi members of the Hutu-dominated parties expected to sweep legislative elections set for April.

An interim constitution expired Nov. 1. The legislature, in an effort to avoid a constitutional crisis, voted to let the draft charter go into force until Burundians vote Nov. 26 on whether to adopt it permanently.

However, Kadege announced Monday that the referendum would not be held on Nov. 26 as planned. His declaration angered ethnic Hutus in the government, including Ndayizeye. Hutu officials said the vice president was not speaking for the government and demanded his immediate ouster.

``He was supposed to help the president but instead of helping him, he was undermining the head of state—especially regarding the constitution,'' Cimpaye said. ``The key part of his job description is to support the president.''

``When you do not support the constitution, you do not have a moral right to sit in the Cabinet,'' Cimpaye said.

Ndayizeye plans to name a new Tutsi vice president as early as Thursday, Cimpaye said.

Civil war broke out in Burundi in October 1993 after Tutsi paratroopers assassinated the country's first democratically elected leader, a Hutu.

More than 260,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict between the Tutsi-dominated army and Hutu rebel factions in the country of about 6 million people.

Copyright © 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:

(Google)
(Altavista babelfish)