The electoral meeting of 2025 is fast approaching. However, the absence of debate, the internal dissensions which strike the political parties, and the current socio-economic situation make fear the worst…
“We need to make a number of amendments to the electoral code, probably even to the Constitution.” This is among other proposals of Burundian policies because of the unavoidable dynamics following the new territorial subdivision. This is what we can read in our recent article which allowed political actors to propose possible amendments to the electoral code. What could be more normal than for politicians to try to have the right to speak, to lend themselves to democratic exercise.
So far, this is all commendable, but there is a catch. Indeed, for some time now, the wise observer of politics as it is practiced in Burundi will not fail to notice this bitter reality, that of the absence of political debate, even as the country is heading towards the you election of 2025. Ah yes, it must be remembered, the legislative elections are coming to us in leaps and bounds, and politicians are starting to position themselves and sometimes democracy pays the price. We will see how in the following lines.
The untraceable debate
This is all the more worrying because the country needs it more than ever. And it’s not just because we’re heading into the election. It is also due to the socio-economic and political circumstances of the moment. This situation marked by the unsustainable financial social health which is spreading. Needless to say, the country lives to the rhythm of shortages of basic necessities, with galloping inflation, as evidenced by the rate provided by the National Institute of Statistics.
Faced with this situation, the opinion of the political class is not much heard. Are they waiting for the start of the campaign? Wouldn’t the political space be locked as voices have constantly denounced it? Worse, even civil society, once an alternative to the opposition, no longer expresses itself or very rarely, at the risk of being treated as an enemy of the country.
The media, which would play this function of bringing back the debate, they also do what they can. With the specter of 2015 still there, few are those who do not resort to self-censorship. And that can only be understood. It is therefore a Burundi that is heading towards the legislative elections with an almost one-way speech.
Dissension as if to drive the point home
This absence of debate is exacerbated by this other impedimentum, relating to the recurring dissensions which strike the political parties. If it has not yet been proven that this is the shadow of “nyakurization”, the fact is that the main opposition party, the CNL, is experiencing internal dissension which is not likely to improve the political climate. and to allow the return of this untraceable debate.
As a result, on the political scene, only the ruling party is visible with a Réverien Ndikuriyo, its boss, crisscrossing all the nooks and crannies of the country. A whole political space occupied by the single party of the eagle. And this is far from constituting a real democratic game, because it is the opposite effect of what you may believe, a political game with a single party is no longer a game. And power, for its credibility , needs a strong opposition, one capable of redressing wrongs, proposing alternatives, raising other concerns and diversifying the offer in terms of programmes.
Strongly the correction of the shot for a successful 2025.
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