Last-ditch talks between Burundi’s government and opposition aimed at resolving a major political crisis over Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial bid for re-election appeared to be headed for failure on Saturday, sources close to the negotiations said.
The closed-door talks, mediated by regional power Uganda, began earlier in the day, but quickly descended into an acrimonious exchange with no sign of any consensus on how to end months of turmoil in the central African nation.
Presidential elections are due to take place in the impoverished country tomorrow, and the opposition looks poised to boycott the polls altogether — leaving Nkurunziza headed for certain victory, but the country violently divided.
The crisis began in April when Nkurunziza announced his intention to stand for a third consecutive five-year term, despite a constitutional two-term limit, sparking months of street protests and a failed coup in mid-May.
Opposition groups say another term would also violate a peace deal that paved the way to end a dozen years of civil war in 2006.
During Saturday’s talks, sources said the government side accused the opposition of siding with the coup plotters, who in recent weeks have revived their attempt to overthrow the president by launching armed rebel operations in the north.
The opposition in turn accused the government of being unwilling to negotiate.
“This is subterfuge. They are just avoiding any talk on the electoral calendar,” an anti-Nkurunziza source close to the talks said.
Burundi’s main opposition leader, Agathon Rwasa, also accused the government of using “delaying tactics just to stay in power.”
Three out of the eight presidential candidates have already pulled out of the race, according to an open letter addressed to Burundi’s election commission.
There are fears the current crisis could plunge the country, which has a history of ethnic and political violence, back into war — adding another major crisis to the already unstable Great Lakes region.
More than 150,000 people have fled the country because of the unrest, which has included a fierce government crackdown on demonstrations that left at least 100 dead.
The country has been left without most of its independent media outlets, after several radio stations were attacked and destroyed in fighting during the attempted coup.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese