SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, June 11, 2025 – Burundi is entering an unprecedented legislative term. The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) announced on Wednesday that all 100 deputies elected in the June 5 legislative and district elections are from the CNDD-FDD, the ruling party.

According to CENI President Prosper Ntahorwamiye, no other party, coalition, or independent candidate reached the required 2% threshold to secure a seat in the National Assembly.

« No other grouping was able to cross this threshold, which leaves the CNDD-FDD as the sole beneficiary of parliamentary seats, » said Mr. Ntahorwamiye.

Unwavering hegemon across all provinces

The detailed results by province confirm total domination :

Buhumuza : 16 out of 16 seats

Bujumbura : 23 out of 23 seats

Burunga : 17 out of 17 seats

Butanyerera : 23 out of 23 seats

Gitega : 21 out of 21 seats

In addition to the directly elected representatives, the CENI co-opted eight Hutu deputies to respect the constitutional distribution (60% Hutu, 40% Tutsi), as well as three Batwa deputies. This brings the total number of deputies to 111, all affiliated or aligned with the CNDD-FDD, with the exception of those co-opted.

A victory that the opposition refuses to acknowledge.

The total control of the ruling party has drawn fierce criticism. UPRONA, in a statement read by its president, Olivier Nkurunziza, rejected the results, denouncing « an electoral process marred by fraud, intimidation, and exclusion. »

« Recognizing these elections would be a betrayal, » he declared, calling on the international community not to be complicit in what he calls an « electoral coup. »

In the wake of this, the Burundi Bwa Bose coalition, the only active political coalition in the small east African nation, also condemned the results. In a statement, it called on the Constitutional Court not to validate what it called « results resulting from exceptional fraud. »

It cited manipulated figures and denounced an « authoritarian drift that has deprived Burundians of the right to freely elect their representatives. »

This total exclusion of the opposition raises serious questions about the future of political pluralism in Burundi, in a country where several parties and candidates have denounced a closed campaign marked by repression, obstruction of the vote count, and targeted arrests.

The National Assembly, resulting from the June 5 election, thus opens in a tense climate, with an exclusively mono-party representation, risking fueling new political and social tensions in the coming months.