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All 64 seats in the National Assembly 33 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 75.39% | ||||||||||||||||
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This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Parliamentary elections were held in Burundi on 18 September 1961 to elect all 64 members of the National Assembly and a government to lead the country following its independence from Belgium in 1962. With 75% voter turnout, the elections resulted in a victory for the Union for National Progress (UPRONA) led by Louis Rwagasore, which received over 80% of the vote and won 58 seats. Rwagasore became prime minister in the new government, but he was assassinated two weeks after the elections. [1]
Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
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Union for National Progress | 627,453 | 80.97 | 58 | |
Common Front [lower-alpha 1] | 138,406 | 17.86 | 6 | |
Association of the Middle Classes, Clerks, and Intellectuals | 3,470 | 0.45 | 0 | |
Union of People's Parties | 2,452 | 0.32 | 0 | |
African National Union of Ruanda-Urundi | 1,641 | 0.21 | 0 | |
Burundi People | 1,461 | 0.19 | 0 | |
Total | 774,883 | 100.00 | 64 | |
Valid votes | 774,883 | 98.96 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 8,144 | 1.04 | ||
Total votes | 783,027 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 1,038,653 | 75.39 | ||
Source: African Elections Database |
Burundi originated in the 16th century as a small kingdom in the African Great Lakes region. After European contact, it was united with the Kingdom of Rwanda, becoming the colony of Ruanda-Urundi - first colonised by Germany and then by Belgium. The colony gained independence in 1962, and split once again into Rwanda and Burundi. It is one of the few countries in Africa to be a direct territorial continuation of a pre-colonial era African state.
Louis Rwagasore was a Burundian prince and politician, who served as the second prime minister of Burundi for two weeks, from 28 September 1961 until his assassination on 13 October. Born to the Ganwa family of Burundian Mwami (king) Mwambutsa IV in Belgian-administered Ruanda-Urundi in 1932, Rwagasore was educated in Burundian Catholic schools before attending university in Belgium. After he returned to Burundi in the mid-1950s he founded a series of cooperatives to economically empower native Burundians and build up his base of political support. The Belgian administration took over the venture, and as a result of the affair his national profile increased and he became a leading figure of the anti-colonial movement.
The Union for National Progress is a nationalist political party in Burundi. Initially it emerged as a nationalist united front in opposition to Belgian colonial rule but subsequently became an integral part of the one-party state established by Michel Micombero after 1966. Dominated by members of the Tutsi ethnic group and increasingly intolerant to their Hutu counterparts, UPRONA remained the dominant force in Burundian politics until the latter stages of the Burundian Civil War in 2003. It is currently a minor opposition party.
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The Kingdom of Burundi, also known as Kingdom of Urundi, was a Bantu kingdom in the modern-day Republic of Burundi. The Ganwa monarchs ruled over both Hutus and Tutsis. Created in the 16th century, the kingdom was preserved under German and Belgian colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th century and was an independent state between 1962 and 1966.
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Léopold Bihumugani or Biha (1919–2003) was a Burundian politician who served as Prime Minister of Burundi from 13 September 1965 until 8 July 1966. A Ganwa born to a chief in Ruanda-Urundi, he became a close confidant of Mwami Mwambutsa IV in the 1940s after being given charge of a chiefdom which included some of the monarch's property. In the late 1950s he became involved in the Union for National Progress (UPRONA) party as the Belgian colonial administration prepared to grant Burundi its independence. Biha left the party after becoming disenchanted with leader Louis Rwagasore's populist style, and held different roles in transitional governments. He created a new party, Burundi Populaire, but failed to get elected to office and was appointed private secretary to the Mwami after independence.
Burundi has issued postage stamps for national use since achieving independence on 1 July 1962. The country was formerly a part of the Belgian territory of Ruanda-Urundi and before 1962 used those postage stamps.
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