President Nkurunziza was speaking while launching, in the Burundian capital Bujumbura, a session of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), the legislative arm of the East African Community (EAC).

“I would like to sincerely thank the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) for the strong support and commitment towards peace and stability in Burundi through a joint initiative of both blocs on supporting the achievement of transparent and credible elections this year,” said Nkurunziza.

Nkurunziza appreciated the EAC/COMESA joint initiative of roundtables launched in January and bringing together various stakeholders and that will run until May just before elections kick off.

According to him, the roundtables are bringing together targeted groups from different sectors of the country’s life where they are receiving “strong” messages of consolidating regional stability through peaceful elections in Burundi.

“I call on the international community to send observers before, during and after the elections,” said Nkurunziza.
East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Speaker Daniel Kidega urged Burundian citizens to “massively” participate in the elections in order to elect their leaders.

“I appeal to Burundian citizens to exercise their democratic rights in participating in the elections. I further appeal to the National Independent Electoral Commission to institute the internationally agreed normative rules for free and fair elections, ” said EALA Speaker Daniel Kidega.

Burundi is holding general elections between May and September, with the presidential election to be held on June 26.
During the two-week session, EALA MPs will analyze several bills including the EAC customs management bill, the EAC competition bill, the EAC cross-border legal practice bill and the EAC electronic transaction bill.

The EAC legislative arm is made up by MPs designated from the five EAC countries including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Source: Spy Ghana

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