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Burundi president's commission says people want term limits removed
Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza addresses a news conference attended by the visiting United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (not seen in picture) in the capital Bujumbura, February 23, 2016. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Evrard Ngendakumana
By Clement Manirabarusha
25/08/2016
BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi could scrap presidential term limits from its constitution after a commission set up to hear public views on governance said most citizens wanted no curbs on the number of times the head of state may seek re-election.
The central African nation has been gripped by violence for more than a year, triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term.
Opponents said the decision, taken in April 2015, violated the country's constitution which currently limits presidential tenure to two five-year terms.
Justin Nzoyisaba, chairman of CNDI, a commission set up by Nkurunziza last year to canvas public opinion on the country's political system, said late on Wednesday that most Burundians wanted term limits abolished.
The majority of the people the commission met "want the president ...to exercise more than two terms," he told a news conference.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Nduwimana in Kigali; writing by Elias Biryabarema)
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