National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy

The National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy (French: Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie – Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie, CNDD–FDD) is the major political party in Burundi. During the Burundian Civil War, the CNDD–FDD was the most significant rebel group active and became a major political party in Burundi. The party's rule has been described as authoritarian.^[3][4]

National Council for the Defense of Democracy–Forces for the Defense of Democracy Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie–Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie
President	General Évariste Ndayishimiye
Secretary-General	Reverien Ndikuriyo
Permanent Visionary	Pierre Nkurunziza
Founded	c. May 1998
Registered	January 2005
Split from	National Council for the Defense of Democracy
Headquarters	Bujumbura
Youth wing	Imbonerakure
Ideology	Hutu nationalism[1] Populism[2]
Colors	Red, Green, White
Senate	34 / 43
National Assembly	86 / 123
Party flag
Website
http://cndd-fdd.org/
Politics of Burundi Political parties Elections

CNDD–FDD's youth wing is known as the Imbonerakure. Human Rights Watch has documented claims that members of Imbonerakure have harassed, arbitrarily detained, tortured, and killed alleged members of opponent parties and militias on behalf of the country's security forces, especially since Évariste Ndayishimiye became the president in 2020.^[5]

History

During the civil war, the CNDD was the political wing of the organization, while the FDD was the military wing. The original CNDD was founded in 1994, a year after the first democratically elected President Melchior Ndadaye was killed by elements of Burundi's Tutsi-dominated army in a failed coup d'etat. The political wing was dominated by Hutu intellectuals from the southern region of Bururi led by Léonard Nyangoma, while the armed wing was made up of troops drawn from across the country.^[6] During the war, the group was often referred to simply by the name of the armed wing (FDD).^[7][8]

In May 1998, Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye, Nyangoma's chief of staff, caused a schism by ousting the latter over leadership issues and losses suffered by the group during the First Congo War,^[9] the Nyangoma-led faction later taking a seat at the Arusha negotiations, while Ndayikengurukiye's faction carried out its fight.^[10] In 2001, the CNDD– FDD consisted of about 25,000 rebels, but in September of that year Ndayikengurukiye was ousted by a faction led by Pierre Nkurunziza over the former's handling of negotiations with the government to join the transitional administration set up by in Arusha Accords.^[11] The Nkurunziza-led faction, consisting of 20,000 to 22,000 troops signed a ceasefire with the government in December 2002 but continued fighting. The faction led by Ndayikengurukiye became the lesser of the two with about 5,000 fighters. It also signed a ceasefire with the government in October 2002 to which it has roughly held.

At an official ceremony in January 2005, the group registered as a legal political party. Months later, in the largely peaceful parliamentary elections on 4 July 2005, the CNDD–FDD won an estimated 60 to 80 percent of the vote, making it likely that a CNDD–FDD representative would be chosen the president in August. Pierre Nkurunziza indeed was elected President of Burundi unopposed on August 19. At the legislative elections, the party won 57.8% and 64 out of 118 seats.

In March 2012, Pascal Nyabenda was elected as President of CNDD–FDD. Then on 20 August 2016, General Évariste Ndayishimiye was, in the extraordinary congress that took place in Gitega, elected as the Secretary General of the Party.^[12]

In June 2020, Nkurunziza died while still serving as President of Burundi and was succeeded by Ndayishimiye. Prior to Nkurunziza's death, Ndayishimiye had been elected President of Burundi in elections which were held in May 2020. Former Senate president Révérien Ndikuriyo, a hardliner, was chosen as the Secretary General of the CNDD–FDD in January 2021.^[13]

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election	Party candidate	Votes	%	Result
President elected by National Assembly and Senate
2005	Pierre Nkurunziza	151	94.4%	Elected Y
President elected by popular vote
2010	Pierre Nkurunziza	2,479,483	91.62%	Elected Y
2015		1,961,510	69.41%	Elected Y
2020	Évariste Ndayishimiye	3,082,210	71.45%	Elected Y

National Assembly elections

Election	Party leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Result
2005	Hussein Radjabu	1,417,800	58.55%	64 / 118	New	1st	Majority government
2010	Jérémie Ngendakumana	1,848,023	81.19%	81 / 106	17	1st	Supermajority government
2015	Pascal Nyabenda	1,721,629	60.28%	86 / 121	5	1st	Supermajority government
2020		3,036,286	70.98%	86 / 123		1st	Supermajority government

Senate elections

Election	Party leader	Seats	+/–	Position	Result
2005	Hussein Radjabu	32 / 49	New	1st	Governing majority
2010	Jérémie Ngendakumana	32 / 41		1st	Governing supermajority
2015	Pascal Nyabenda	33 / 43	1	1st	Governing supermajority
2020		34 / 43	1	1st	Governing supermajority

References

1. Nantulya, Paul (2020-06-22). "Post-Nkurunziza Burundi: The Rise of the Generals". Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
2. Kazeem, Yomi (9 November 2016). "Africa's populists and strongmen are some of the first to welcome a Trump presidency". Quartz Africa. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
3. Burihabwa, Ntagahoraho Z.; Curtis, Devon E.A. (July 2019). "The Limits of Resistance Ideologies? The CNDD-FDD and the Legacies of Governance in Burundi". Government and Opposition. 54 (3): 559–583. doi:10.1017/gov.2019.2. ISSN 0017-257X.
4. "Burundi: The CNDD-FDD, a steamroller leaving little space for the opposition". The Africa Report. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
5. "Burundi: Suspected Opponents Killed, Detained, Tortured". Human Rights Watch. 18 May 2022.
6. https://medialibrary.uantwerpen.be/oldcontent/container2143/files/DPP%20Burundi/Ethnicit%C3%A9/Partage%20du%20pouvoir/Falch%20and%20Becker%20(2008)%20Power-sharing%20and%20Peacebuilding%20in%20Burundi%20(CSCW%20Paper).pdf Archived 2021-06-02 at the Wayback Machine Falch & Becker, p.9
7. "Burundi: Immediate action vital to stop killings - Burundi". 16 July 1995. Archived from the original on 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
8. "Refworld | Human Rights Watch World Report 1996 - Burundi". Archived from the original on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
9. https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/3de6530c4.pdf Archived 2021-11-04 at the Wayback Machine p. 8
10. Falch & Becker, p. 9
11. "Burundi : Les combats s'intensifient". Archived from the original on 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
12. "Burundi president to run for third term despite protest". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
13. "Burundi ruling party selects hardliner as secretary-general". AP NEWS. 24 January 2021. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2021.

Further reading

• Burihabwa, N., & Curtis, D. (2019). The Limits of Resistance Ideologies? The CNDD-FDD and the Legacies of Governance in Burundi. Government and Opposition, 54(3), 559-583. doi:10.1017/gov.2019.2
• Nindorera, Willy (2012). The CNDD–FDD in Burundi: The Path from Armed to Political Struggle. Berlin: Berghof-Stiftung für Konfliktforschung. ISBN 978-3-941514-06-5. OCLC 873376633.
• Rufyikiri, Gervais (2017). "The Post-Wartime Trajectory of CNDD-FDD Party in Burundi: A Facade Transformation of Rebel Movement to Political Party". Civil Wars. 19 (2): 220–248. doi:10.1080/13698249.2017.1381819. hdl:10067/1491680151162165141.

External links

• Ex-Hutu rebels win Burundi poll, BBC 5 July 2005