Burundi election delay urged

BUJUMBURA: The European Union and United States called for a delay to elections in Burundi Monday after deadly protests triggered by the president’s bid for a third term.
“We encourage the government of Burundi to take measures to calm the situation, and the idea of a delay in the electoral timetable would be for us a good thing,” EU Special Envoy Koen Vervaeke told reporters. US ambassador Dawn Liberi read a similar statement.
About 2,000 people marched through a neighborhood of the capital as police looked on, a day after Burundi’s government ordered a ban on any further street protests.
Small group of young men on Monday were checking pedestrians and vehicles going through. Police and army soldiers negotiated with protesters to let trucks stuck at an entrance proceed.
Nkurunziza’s government has ordered all state officials report back to work and all schools to reopen on Monday.
Burundi’s Constitution states a president can be popularly elected to two five-year terms. Nkurunziza maintains he can run for a third term because Parliament elected him for his first term, leaving him open to be popularly elected to two terms. Protests started two weeks ago.