Burundi : the 2025-2030 National Assembly entirely dominated by the CNDD-FDD

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, June 11, 2025 – Burundi is entering an unprecedented legislative term. The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) announced on Wednesday that all 100 deputies elected in the June 5 legislative and district elections are from the CNDD-FDD, the ruling party.

According to CENI President Prosper Ntahorwamiye, no other party, coalition, or independent candidate reached the required 2% threshold to secure a seat in the National Assembly.

“No other grouping was able to cross this threshold, which leaves the CNDD-FDD as the sole beneficiary of parliamentary seats,” said Mr. Ntahorwamiye.

Unwavering hegemon across all provinces

The detailed results by province confirm total domination :

Buhumuza : 16 out of 16 seats

Bujumbura : 23 out of 23 seats

Burunga : 17 out of 17 seats

Butanyerera : 23 out of 23 seats

Gitega : 21 out of 21 seats

In addition to the directly elected representatives, the CENI co-opted eight Hutu deputies to respect the constitutional distribution (60% Hutu, 40% Tutsi), as well as three Batwa deputies. This brings the total number of deputies to 111, all affiliated or aligned with the CNDD-FDD, with the exception of those co-opted.

A victory that the opposition refuses to acknowledge.

The total control of the ruling party has drawn fierce criticism. UPRONA, in a statement read by its president, Olivier Nkurunziza, rejected the results, denouncing “an electoral process marred by fraud, intimidation, and exclusion.”

“Recognizing these elections would be a betrayal,” he declared, calling on the international community not to be complicit in what he calls an “electoral coup.”

In the wake of this, the Burundi Bwa Bose coalition, the only active political coalition in the small east African nation, also condemned the results. In a statement, it called on the Constitutional Court not to validate what it called “results resulting from exceptional fraud.”

It cited manipulated figures and denounced an “authoritarian drift that has deprived Burundians of the right to freely elect their representatives.”

This total exclusion of the opposition raises serious questions about the future of political pluralism in Burundi, in a country where several parties and candidates have denounced a closed campaign marked by repression, obstruction of the vote count, and targeted arrests.

The National Assembly, resulting from the June 5 election, thus opens in a tense climate, with an exclusively mono-party representation, risking fueling new political and social tensions in the coming months.