Opposition politicians in Burundi have urged voters to peacefully resist an effort by authorities to “steal power” in a referendum that some fear could spark widespread violence. Aimé Magera, a spokesman for the National Liberation Forces (FNL), an opposition party, said campaigners for a no vote had made a “massive breakthrough” in recent days. Opposition officials said ruling party volunteers had systematically accompanied voters into booths while many of their own observers had been ejected. “We now need ... to remove [Nkurunziza] by use of arms,” said Hussein Radjubu, a former ruling party official who was arrested on treason charges but later escaped from prison. “There’s a sense that the ruling party has been seen as fighting the good fight for Burundi’s rural poor,” Shepherd said.

Source: The Guardian May 17, 2018 08:08 UTC