BUJUMBURA, Burundi
Incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza was re-elected for a third term with 69.41 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results released by the country's official electoral commission on Friday.
His opponent, Agathon Rwasa, leader of the National Liberation Forces, received 18.99 percent of the vote.
The electoral commission said 73.44 percent of the 3.8 million registered voters had cast ballots.
The opposition had boycotted the election, after claiming it was unconstitutional. The opposition had also boycotted the June 29 parliamentary elections in which the ruling party won 77 out of 103 seats.
Nkurunziza won in 17 of the country’s 18 provinces. Nkurunziza came in first in Bujumbura, the stronghold of protests against him. He obtained 43.11 percent, while Rwasa received 40.7 percent.
Voter turnout, however, was low in Bujumbura standing at just 29.75 percent, according to the National Independent Electoral Commission.
“Burundians just took part in a presidential election that does not look like others, notably that of Gabon, United States [and] Belgium,” Pierre Claver Ndayicariye, president of the electoral commission, said. “This is an election for Burundians and by Burundians.”
The United States, the European Union, Belgium and Britain had said that the “elections are neither credible nor free.”
The African Union had urged stakeholders in the Burundi crisis to consider the plight of their people and engage in meaningful dialogue in order to end the wave of protests in the East African nation. Since anti-Nkurunziza demonstrations erupted in April, more than 100 people have been killed, while tens of thousands have fled to neighboring countries.
