Burundi to hold constitutional referendum on Oct. 20

Burundi is set to hold a referendum next month to approve a new constitution for the tiny central African country, according to reports reaching here on Friday.

A president's office statement was quoted as saying that Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye had signed a decree calling for the referendum on the constitution to be held on Oct. 20.

Burundi is to introduce the new constitution on Nov. 1, the day after the expiry of the country's three-year interim governance.

The draft constitution incorporates articles proposed by a power-sharing accord signed in Pretoria of South Africa in early August.

Two thirds of the country's political groups have agreed with the power-sharing mechanism whereas nine parties from the Tutsi community are still against it.

Under the power-sharing mechanism brokered by South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, the first president of Burundi's post-transitional era will have to be elected by a two-thirds majority of the combined upper and lower houses of parliament. The two vice-presidents will be drawn from different tribes and political parties.

The upper house (senate) will have equal numbers of Hutus and Tutsis plus three senators from the pygmy tribe while the lower house (national assembly) will be composed of 60 percent of Hutus and 40 percent of Tutsis.

Burundi is a tiny country where the Hutus make up 85 percent of its population whereas the Tutsis, 14 percent.

The Tutsi community is afraid whether the Tutsi-dominated parties can take control of 40 percent of the national assembly seats and 40 percent of the cabinet's ministerial posts and whether the sole vice-president as the Tutsi parties have proposed will have the right to veto the decisions of the president.

Source:Xinhua