Court 'Forced' to Validate Nkurunziza’S Third Term Bid

The Burundian Constitutional Court was forced to validate President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid to seek a third term in office, an exiled judge has said.

According to Aljazeera, judges met on April 30 and found that Nkurunziza was not eligible to run for another term, said Constitutional Court Vice President Sylvere Nimpagaritse, who is in exile in neighbouring Rwanda.

He said after that decision, the judges received threatening phone calls, which forced him to flee. The remaining judges then changed their decision in Nkurunziza’s favour.

“If we did not give the third term a green light, we were going to be in trouble,” Nimpagaritse said.

There was no immediate response from the Burundian government to the judge’s claims.

Nkurunziza has said the court had found that his bid for a third term in the June 26 election does not contradict the constitution since he was selected by parliament and not by popular election for his first term in 2005.