Explanation Part I

Transition of Power

Change of power in 1993

In June of 1993 Burundi held an election. Different from past elections, there were few electoral abuses on either side. The Tutsi party, Union for National Progress (UPRONA) had ruled for the previous 30 years, since 1962. The current president, Pierre Buyoya, had been in power since 1987 after replacing Jean Baptiste Bagaza within the Tutsi party. Buyoya and his party only got 32% of the vote. Melchior Ndadaye won the election with 64% of the vote. Ndadaye, a Hutu, had been the president of a moderate Hutu dominated party,Frodebu. There were charges of ethnically-biased voting, but Ndadaye dismissed these charges by pointing out that with the demographic make up of Burundi, any leader would have to have a majority of Hutu support to be able to win the election. This election made Ndadaye the first civilian, the first Hutu, and the first elected president of Burundi, since their independence in 1962 (Watson, p. 59).

The most surprising aspect of the election, at least to Ndadaye, was how smoothly the transition of power from the Tutsis to the Hutus went. Though there was an attempted coup a week before power changed hands ("Post-Election Coup...," NYT, July 4, 93) the actual transfer of power went smoothly. Ndadaye assumed power on July 10, and the Tutsi majority army simply sat on the side lines and observed. This seemed to many as a sign that the ethnic strife was over (Watson, p. 60).

Unfortunately, this peace time was all too short. In October the Tutsi-majority army led a coup against the government.

SEE EXPLANATION PART II-- The Coup.

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