Burundi president surprises with vow to step down in 2020

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza says he would step down in 2020, despite widespread belief that he backed a new Constitution extending term limits in a bid to cling to power until 2034.

The announcement came shortly after he signed into law, a new Constitution, passed in a May referendum that in theory allows him to seek another two terms in office.

The reforms also placed greater power in the hands of the President and was seen by critics as a death blow for the Arusha peace deal, signed in 2000.

The decision by Mr.  Nkurunziza, who's been in power since 2005, to run for re-election in 2015 plunged Burundi into a deep and deadly political crisis, with opponents saying his candidacy went against a peace deal that had ended more than a decade of civil war. 

One thousand two hundred people lost their lives, while many in the thousands fled their homes, triggering an investigation by the International Criminal Court.


SOURCE: NEWS24
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