Bujumbura - Burundi voters will directly elect the country's president at the second post-war election to be held in June next year, the electoral commission announced on Tuesday. Voters will choose a president on June 28, while polls for parliament will be held on July 23. Senators and county leaders will be elected on July 28 and September 7, respectively, said Pierre Claver Ndayicariye, the head of the National Independent Electoral Commission.
Unlike Burundi's first post-conflict election in 2005 when the president was elected by the two houses of parliament, next year will see the direct election of the country's leader. "Although it does not appear in the timetable we have just released, the second round of presidential voting, if it becomes necessary, will be held on July 26, 2010, at the latest," Ndayicariye said.
In September, lawmakers passed a new electoral code after weeks of bickering. "We are satisfied with this timetable because it conforms to what was agreed on in the electoral code and it respects the expiry of the terms of those who were elected in 2005," said Frederic Banvuginyunvira, the deputy chief of the country's main opposition party. The small central African state is one of the world's poorest and is struggling to emerge from the effects of more than a decade of civil war. – AFP
