CASE No - Inter-Parliamentary Union

- 3 - CL/183/SR.1
ANNEX IX
Bearing in mind that, according to information received, the preparatory work on the
Constitution shows that a proposal to disqualify members of parliament if they change political party was
expressly rejected and replaced by the present constitutional provisions on the termination of the
parliamentary mandate, which do not provide for such termination in the case of expulsion or
resignation from the political party on whose list the parliamentarian was elected,
Considering further that four of the parliamentarians concerned, namely Mathias Basabose,
Pasteur Mpawenayo, Alice Nzomukunda and Zaituni Radjabu, were the target of grenade attacks in
August 2007 and March 2008 respectively, which have remained unpunished to date; noting that,
moreover, according to one of the sources, arrest warrants have been issued for Mr. Nkurunziza,
Mr. Nsababandi, Mr. Nshimirimana, Mr. Nyabenda, Mr. Basabose and Mr. Mpawenayo; noting that the
latter was arrested on 4 July 2008, that Mr. Nkurunziza was arrested by the Deputy Director of Police on
15 July 2008, reportedly without a warrant, and that Mr. Minyurano was arrested on 1 October 2008
reportedly on an accusation of assault and battery and public insult which, according to the sources,
originated in the failure of Mr. Minyurano’s tenant, a magistrate, to pay his rent,
Noting that a dissenting group within FRODEBU has set up a new party and that the
President of FRODEBU has requested the President of the National Assembly, on the same basis as
referred to above, to ask the Constitutional Court likewise to declare the occupation of the seats of the
dissenting parliamentarians unconstitutional, but that the President of the National Assembly has so far
taken no such action; noting also that a leading member of this new party has asked the President of the
National Assembly to dismiss 15 members of the FRODEBU party from parliament on the grounds that
they were absent from parliament for more that a quarter of the current session and can therefore be
dismissed by virtue of Article 156 of the Constitution and Article 15 of the Standing Orders; that an
application of that provision would affect not only the 15 members of the FRODEBU in question but a
certain number of parliamentarians belonging to the CNDD-FDD and UPRONA, who likewise
boycotted a large number of parliamentary sittings,
Considering that, according to the President of the CNDD-FDD to the 119 th IPU Assembly,
the aim of the parliamentarians concerned was to block the National Assembly and they succeeded as
other opposition parliamentarians joined them in this effort, a total of more than 40 members, so that
the quorum for adopting legislation was no longer reached; that, however, major problems would have
been created had the Assembly sought the expulsion of all of them, for which reason only the expulsion
of the 22 members who no longer belonged to the CNDD-FDD was sought; that, in any event, had it
not been for the Constitutional Court’s interpretation of Article 169, they would have lost their mandate
by virtue of Article 156 of the Constitution; that since their expulsion the Assembly functioned normally,
having meanwhile adopted 29 of the 35 bills proposed by the Government; noting also that the
President of the CNDD-FDD welcomed the assistance of the IPU insofar as capacity-building in the field
of democracy, human rights and the participation of women in politics are concerned as this contributes
to the stabilization of the country,
1. Thanks the President of the National Assembly for his cooperation; also thanks the
President of the CNDD-FDD for having shared his view with the Committee;
2. Recognizes that Burundi has faced a critical situation owing to the virtual inability of the
National Assembly to muster the necessary quorum, and that as a result, parliamentary and
governmental business came to a halt early this year; acknowledges, therefore, that there
was an urgent need to find a solution enabling the National Assembly to resume its work;
3. Commends the IPU for its efforts to work with all the parties concerned in Burundi to
identify a negotiated, comprehensive and agreed solution to the problems faced in
parliament that would allow all political parties and factions to participate effectively in the
work of the National Assembly; regrets that this process was interrupted before it came to
fruition;