Burundi declares Evariste Ndayishimiye victor of bitter presidential election
- Ruling party candidate took 68.72 per cent of vote in what opposition says was flawed process
- Former army general Ndayishimiye replaces Pierre Nkurunziza, whose final years in office were wracked with turmoil.
Burundi’s ruling party candidate, Evariste Ndayishimiye, was on Monday declared the winner of the country’s presidential election, which the opposition has said was flawed.
The national election commission, in results streamed live on Burundian media, announced that Ndayishimiye had won 68.72 per cent of the vote, while opposition leader Agathon Rwasa came in far behind with 24.19 per cent.
Ndayishimiye, 52, is a former army general who was hand-picked by the ruling CNDD-FDD to replace President Pierre Nkurunziza, who has been in power since 2005 and whose final years in office have been wracked with turmoil.
Nkurunziza’s third-term election run in 2015 sparked violence which left at least 1,200 dead and pushed 400,000 to flee the country.
Ndayishimiye is set to inherit a deeply isolated country, under sanctions and cut off by foreign donors, its economy and national psyche damaged by the years of political violence and rights violations.