Burundian presidential election, 1993

Last updated March 17, 2019

Presidential elections were held in Burundi on 1 June 1993 following the approval of a new constitution in a referendum the previous year. They were the first multi-party elections for the presidency, the only previous elections in 1984 having been held at a time when the country was a one-party state. This election was a watershed for Burundi, representing the end of a military backed Tutsi state, and the birth of democracy.

Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country amid the African Great Lakes region where East and Central Africa converge. The capital is Gitega, having moved from Bujumbura in February 2019. The southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika.

Melchior Ndadaye was a Burundian intellectual and politician. He was the first democratically elected and first Hutu president of Burundi after winning the landmark 1993 election. Though he moved to attempt to smooth the country's bitter ethnic divide, his reforms antagonised soldiers in the Tutsi-dominated army, and he was assassinated amidst a failed military coup in October 1993, after only three months in office. His assassination sparked an array of brutal tit-for-tat massacres between the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups, and ultimately sparked the decade-long Burundi Civil War.

The Front for Democracy in Burundi is a Hutu progressive political party in Burundi.

Major Pierre Buyoya is a Burundian politician who has ruled Burundi twice, from 1987 to 1993 and from 1996 to 2003. With 13 years combined as Head of State, Buyoya is the longest serving Burundian President.

Candidates

Pierre Buyoya, the incumbent president who seized power in a 1987 military coup. A Tutsi from Bururi Province, he was the candidate for the ruling Union for National Progress. He ran on a platform of national unity and was supported by two predominantly Tutsi parties, the Rally for Democracy and Economic and Social Development (RADDES) and the Social Democratic Party.
Melchior Ndadaye', the leader and candidate of the Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU), a predominantly Hutu party founded in 1986 and officially registered in 1992. Ndadaye's candidacy was supported by three other mainly Hutu parties - the Rally for the People of Burundi (RPB), the People's Party (PP), and the Liberal Party (PL).
Pierre-Claver Sendegeya, a Hutu and candidate of the monarchist People's Reconciliation Party (PRP).

Bururi Province is one of the eighteen provinces of Burundi. It was formerly Burundi's largest province until the communes of Burambi, Buyengero and Rumonge were transferred to the province of Rumonge when it was created in 2015.

The Union for National Progress is a nationalist political party in Burundi, receiving most of its support from members of the Tutsi ethnic group. It is celebrated for its role in gaining Burundian independence.

The Rally for Democracy and Economic and Social Development is a small, predominantly ethnic Tutsi political party in Burundi.

Results

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Melchior Ndadaye	Front for Democracy in Burundi	1,483,904	65.68
Pierre Buyoya	Union for National Progress	742,360	32.86
Pierre-Claver Sendegeya	People's Reconciliation Party	33,072	1.46
Invalid/blank votes		32,410	–
Total		2,291,746	100
Registered votes/turnout		2,355,126	97.3
Source: EISA

Aftermath

Melchior Ndadaye's election victory put FRODEBU in prime position for a comfortable win in legislative elections held on 29 June 1993.

Ndadaye was sworn in as the first Hutu president of Burundi on 10 July 1993. His rule would be short, however, as he was assassinated on 21 October 1993 during a military coup by elements of the predominantly Tutsi army. Thereafter, the country plunged into a full-scale civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

Related Research Articles

Burundi is one of the few countries in Africa, along with its closely linked neighbour Rwanda among others, to be a direct territorial continuation of a pre-colonial era African state.

Cyprien Ntaryamira was the Hutu President of Burundi from 5 February 1994 until his death two months later, when the aircraft he was travelling in, together with Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana, was shot down near Kigali, Rwanda.

Domitien Ndayizeye is a Burundian politician who was President of Burundi from 2003 to 2005. He succeeded Pierre Buyoya, as president on 30 April 2003, after serving as Buyoya's vice president for 18 months. Ndayizeye remained in office until succeeded by Pierre Nkurunziza on 26 August 2005.

The Burundian Civil War was an armed conflict lasting from 1993 to 2005. The civil war was the result of long standing ethnic divisions between the Hutu and the Tutsi ethnic groups in Burundi. The conflict began following the first multi-party elections in the country since independence from Belgium in 1962, and is seen as formally ending with the swearing in of Pierre Nkurunziza in August 2005. Children were widely used by both sides in the war. The estimated death toll stands at 300,000.

Sylvie Kinigi was Prime Minister of Burundi from 10 July 1993 to 7 February 1994, and acting President from 27 October 1993 to 5 February 1994, the first and to date only woman to hold these positions.

François Ngeze was the head of state of Burundi from 21 October 1993 to 27 October 1993. He was chosen by the military Committee of Public Salvation, a group of army officers that overthrew the democratically elected government of president Melchior Ndadaye.

Parliamentary elections were held in Burundi on 29 June 1993. They were the first multi-party parliamentary elections since 1965, and followed the approval of a new constitution in a referendum in 1992. The result was a victory for the Front for Democracy in Burundi, which won 65 of the 81 seats.

The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Parliament in Burundi. It consists of 100 directly elected members and between 18 and 21 co-opted members who serve five-year terms.

The position of Vice-President of the Republic of Burundi was created in June 1998, when a transitional constitution went into effect. It replaced the post of Prime Minister.

In 2007 the Government of Burundi consisted of a 20-member Council of Ministers appointed by the President. The Council of Ministers, together with the President and Vice-Presidents, forms the executive branch of government in the country.

Since Burundi's independence in 1962, there have been two events called genocides in the country. The 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army, and the 1993 mass killings of Tutsis by the majority-Hutu populace are both described as genocide in the final report of the International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi presented to the United Nations Security Council in 1996.

These are some of the articles related to Burundi on the English Wikipedia:

The 1996 Burundian coup d'état was a military coup d'état that took place in Burundi on 25 July 1996. In the midst of the Burundi Civil War, former president Pierre Buyoya deposed Hutu President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya. According to Amnesty International, in the weeks following the coup, more than 6,000 people were killed in the country. This was Buyoya's second successful coup, having overthrown Jean-Baptiste Bagaza in 1987.

The 1987 Burundian coup d'état was a bloodless military coup d'état that took place in Burundi on 3 September 1987. Tutsi president Jean-Baptiste Bagaza was deposed whilst traveling abroad and succeeded by Tutsi Major Pierre Buyoya.

References

↑ Burundi: 1993 Presidential election results EISA

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Burundi: 1993 Presidential election results EISA

v t e Elections and referendums in Burundi
Presidential elections	1984 1993 2005 2010 2015
Parliamentary elections	1954 1957 1961 1965 1982 1993 2005 2010 2015
Local elections	1953 1956 2005 2010 2015
Referendums	1981 1991 1992 2005 2018