II ~I ~ ~II~ ~~ ~II ~ ~II - IFES

IFES Pre-electionAssessment:Burundiwas issued which made a number of points, two of which stand out. First, it indicated that thegovernment might accept Palipehutu if it changed its name (to drop the ethnic designation) andif it renounced the use of force. Second, it called for the creation of a more representative,national army.It is difficult to generalize about who the members of Palipehutu are. The participants in therecent events in Cibitoke claimed they were from Palipehutu but reliable sources say thatPalipehutu representatives living in Europe have denied the Cibitoke incidents were their doing.If Buyoya and Palipehutu are serious about an agreement, they will need to figure out who~hese people are and marginalize those without wide popular support.Political PartiesThe Buyoya regime gradually reduced the repression of the last years of the Bagaza regime.His Prime minister and half of the ministers are from the Hutu ethnic group .. Politicalprisoners were freed and the churches regained their properties taken by the Bagazagovernment. Political parties remained illegal.On April 4, 1992, a new government was installed by the president. The only foreignerspresent at the installation were the IFES team members. The task of the government is torestore a unitary and democratic state. The IFES team viewed it as unfortunate that thegovernment was sworn in before the promulgation of the law on political parties. The lack ofparticipation of the opposition parties in the new government has only fueled their alienationfrom the transition process.While it is recognized that the Buyoya regime has engineered a relatively peaceful process ofdemocratic transition, and that the steps taken to date are truly steps forward, the transitionprocess still falls short of commonly accepted democratic practices in a number of areas.Although national debates concerning the draft constitution were organized and have someintrinsic value, they cannot replace a democratic set-up in which constructive opposition to theCharter of National Unity and to the Constitution could be legally organized through political23