Politics

Burundi is a small and mountainous country with a long history of tribal wars. The colonization of the territory of this country has not changed the division of labor and power between the two main ethnic groups: HUTU, although the majority, was politically and culturally dominated by the minority ethnic group, TUTSI.
Burundi proclaimed independence on 1 July 1962, being governed only by cabinets made up of representatives of the Tutsi ethnic group.
It is worth mentioning that Burundi was governed by a constitutional monarchy until 1966 when Captain Michel Micombero declared the Republic.
Between 1966 and 1990 Burundi had a succession of state military strikes, after which the power was taken over by Colonel Jean Baptiste Bagaza and Major Perre Buyoya among others, which prevented attempts to move to a government democratic.

The first democratically elected president, Melchior Ndadaye, was assassinated by the 1994 coup after only 100 days of his election, and his successor Cyprien Ntaryamira died along with the president of Rwanda in a plane crash above the capital The latter, Kigali.
Following the killing of the first democratically elected president, a civil war broke out between the Hutu rebels and the regime dominated by Tutsi, causing 200,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of refugees in neighboring countries.

The moment was used by former President Pierre Buyoya, who took over military power and abolished the constitution, suspended parliament and banned political parties, leading to the imposition of economic sanctions on neighboring countries.
Following the mediation of the IGAD regional initiative, the Arusha agreements were signed, on the basis of which on 1 November 2001 a transitional government mandated until the end of August 2005 was established.

The implementation of the Arusha Peace Accords, based on which the Transitional Government was established in 2001, proved to be difficult for it, a single rebel group (National Liberation Forces) continues to refuse to sign these agreements and participate in the peace process in Burundi.

On 28 February 2005, a referendum took place in the Republic of Burundi, which approved the new constitution of the country. The main provisions of the New Constitution are as follows:
- Ethnic composition of the National Assembly: 60% of places for Hutu ethnicity and 40% of places for the ethnic Tutsi minority, plus three more places for the Twa ethnic group (1% of the country's population);
- In the upper chamber of Parliament, the Senate, seats will be divided equally (50% - 50%) between Hutu and Tutsi;
- Military posts will be divided equally between the two groups, Hutu and Tutsi.

On 3 and 7 June 2005, municipal elections were held to appoint 3,225 municipal councilors. The victorious detachment was the National Defense Democracy Council (1,781 seats), followed by the Democratic Front of Burundi (822 seats).
On 4 July 2005, following the new Constitution adopted on 28 February 2005, elections for the National Assembly took place (118 seats), attended by about 30 political and independent parties. Following the election, the composition of the National Assembly is the following:
- National Council for Defense of Democracy - Forces for Defense of Democracy: 64 seats;
- Democracy Front in Burundi: 30 seats;
- Union for National Progress: 15 seats;
- National Council for Defense of Democracy: 4 seats;
- Citizens Rehabilitation Movement - Rurenzangemero: 2
places; and
- Twa ethnic group: 3 places.

On July 29, 2005, the elections for the Senate (49 seats) took place, which decided the following composition of the Upper Chamber of the Border Parliament:
- National Council for Defense of Democracy - Forces for Defense of Democracy: 32 seats;
- Democracy Front in Burundi: 5 seats;
- Union for National Progress: 2 seats;
- National Council for Defense of Democracy: 3 places;
- Twa ethnic group: 3 places; and
- Former Presidents - Jean-Baptiste Bagaza (PARENA), Pierre Buyoya (UPRONA), Sylvestre Ntibantunganya (FRODEBU), and Domitien Ndayizeye (FRODEBU) who become senators: 4 seats.

On 19 August 2005, the presidential election held in Parliament, with only one candidate, was appointed Pierre Nkurunziza as President of the Republic of Burundi.

Form of government: Presidential republic

President of the Republic of Burundi: Pierre NKURUNZIZA, invested on 19 August 2005. He also heads the government as Head of Government;
By Decree no. 100/04 of 29 August 2005, the President appointed two Vice-Presidents:
First Vice-President: Yves SAVINGUVU - Tutsi
Vice President: Gabriel NTISEZERANA - Hutu

Legislative power: Parliament composed of two chambers: the National Assembly and the Senate.

Executive Power: By Decree no. 100/09 of August 30, 2005, the President named the composition of the Ministerial Cabinet.

Political parties

In 1998, political pluralism was authorized.
At that time, two political parties existed in Burundi, namely: Unity for National Progress (UPRONA), led by Alphonse Kadege and the Burundi Democratic Front (FRODEBU), led by Jean Minani.

The main political forces in the Republic of Burundi, participating and having obtained enough votes in the 2005 election suite, are the following:
- National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (National Council for Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy, CNDD-FDD);
- Front for Democracy in Burundi (Front to Democracy and Burundi, FRODEBU);
- Union for National Progress (Union for National Progress, UPRONA);
- National Council for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD);
- Movement for the Rehabilitation of Citizens-Rurenzangemero (Mouvement for the Rehabilitation of Citoyen-
Rurenzangemero, MRC);
- Party for National Recovery (National Partition Recovery, PARENA)