Burundi: Elections without competition and no peace without participation

This policy brief examines the 2010 elections in Burundi, highlighting how the withdrawal of opposition candidates led to the election of President Pierre Nkurunziza and a landslide victory for the ruling CNDD-FDD party in both the National Assembly and Senate. The authors warn that this shift toward one-party dominance threatens the country's peace and democratic stability.

• The 2010 electoral process in Burundi was marked by an initial high turnout of 91.7 per cent, but the subsequent withdrawal of opposition candidates from the presidential elections created a political impasse. This resulted in President Pierre Nkurunziza winning a five-year term with 90 per cent of the vote, though voter turnout for that specific stage dropped to 76.9 per cent.
• The ruling party, the National Council for the Defence of Democracy - Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), achieved dominant control of the government. In the 23 July 2010 legislative election, the CNDD-FDD won 81 of the 106 National Assembly seats, and in the Senate elections, it won 32 of the 34 seats.
• The transition from a multiparty system to one of essentially one-party dominance by the ruling party is identified as a factor that could have a highly detrimental effect on democracy and peace within Burundi.

APA

Boshoff, H., & Ellermann, R. (n.d.). Burundi: Elections without competition and no peace without participation. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/research/policy-brief/burundi-elections-without-competition-and-no-peace-without-participation

Chicago

Boshoff, Henri, and Ralph Ellermann. Burundi: Elections without competition and no peace without participation. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/research/policy-brief/burundi-elections-without-competition-and-no-peace-without-participation.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Boshoff |first1=Henri |last2=Ellermann |first2=Ralph |title=Burundi: Elections without competition and no peace without participation |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/research/policy-brief/burundi-elections-without-competition-and-no-peace-without-participation |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{boshoffndburundi, author = {Boshoff, Henri and Ellermann, Ralph}, title = {{Burundi: Elections without competition and no peace without participation}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/research/policy-brief/burundi-elections-without-competition-and-no-peace-without-participation}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }