Burundi situation uncertain as parliamentary elections postponed

The situation in Burundian remains uncertain after authorities decided to postpone parliamentary elections for reasons of national security, following protests and a thwarted coup attempt to overthrow President Pierre Nkurunziza.

Demonstrations have broken out in Burundi against Nkurunziza's bid to run for a third term, which protesters claim is in violation of the constitution and Arusha peace and reconciliation deal that brought the tiny Central African nation's civil war to an end.

On May 13, a group of soldiers and policemen headed by Major General Godefroid Niyombare staged a coup against Nkurunziza and his government, but the coup plot failed one day later.

Article 96 of the country's constitution stipulates that the president is elected by universal suffrage for a five-year mandate, renewable once, but Nkurunziza argues he has only been directly elected by the people once.

The Burundian legislative and communal elections due on May 26 have been postponed to June 5, allegedly to allow the army and police to first pacify the country.

Sylvere Nimpagaritse, a former vice-president of Burundi's constitutional court, who fled to Rwanda as he was about to help rule on the legality of Nkurunziza's third-term bid, expressed concern over continued protests despite the election delay.

Burundian authorities have extended the election schedule, arguing they need some time to restore calm, but protestors are not taking holiday as they vowed to stand their ground against the current regime, he told Xinhua in Kigali.

In a message to the nation on Wednesday, Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza said all the country's 119 communes are safe except four neighborhoods in the capital Bujumbura, where a "small group" of demonstrators has been disrupting citizens' activities.

He stressed that calm areas represent at least 99.9 percent of the country's total area. Enditem