An adversary vanquished
How far will President Ndayishimiye go?
In , President Évariste Ndayishimiye ordered the arrest of his former prime minister, Alain Guillaume Bunyoni. The arrest, along with other moves by the president, appeared to redraw the political power map in Burundi’s ruling party, the CNDD-FDD.
The Burundi Human Rights Initiative’s new report, “An adversary vanquished: how far will President Ndayishimiye go?”, explores the significance of Bunyoni’s arrest and the shifting dynamics in the CNDD-FDD. It also analyses how Ndayishimiye’s willingness to act decisively against opponents within his party could shape Burundi’s future political direction.
The report considers whether these and other developments could result in long-awaited human rights reforms or simply lead to a political realignment while repression of dissent continues. Ndayishimiye’s primary aim seems to be to shore up his power base in advance of the legislative elections and, most importantly, the presidential election.
To this end, Ndayishimiye gave a rousing speech to the CNDD-FDD youth league, the Imbonerakure, in during Imbonerakure Day. He encouraged the Imbonerakure to continue to defend Burundi’s security as well as focus on development – a departure from his previous directives in which he emphasised that their priority should be to develop the country.
Finally, the report explores the rift in the main opposition party, the CNL, resulting in the government’s suspension of the party’s activities, with potentially serious consequences for the democratic landscape in Burundi.