Date
Wednesday February 1, 1995
Titre
New political crisis in Burundi, two-day opposition strike
Citation
BUJUMBURA, Feb 1 (AFP) - A two-day strike call by the opposition failed to win general support as some Burundians turned up for work Wednesday in the capital Bujumbura.
The leader of the Tutsi-dominated Union for National Progress (UPRONA) Charles Mukasi, called the strike on Tuesday, saying it was "urgent" to "topple the current government at all costs."
UPRONA is an essential partner in the coalition government formed with the Hutu majority parties.
In New York the United Nations Security Council said it was concerned at the deterioration of the situation in Burundi and deplored the opposition call to topple the government.
In an emergency declaration adopted Tuesday night the 15 members of the Security Council "denounced all attempts aimed at threatening the existence of the coalition government by intimidation and diktat."
Mukasi issued the strike call after the sacking of two government ministers who had refused to attend an emergency cabinet meeting called by President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya. Ntibantunganya had warned that any ministers who failed to attend the cabinet meeting would be replaced.
The cabinet meeting was called after UPRONA decided to sack Prime Minister Anatole Kanyenkiki for failing to toe the party line. Kanyenkiko said in a nationwide address Sunday that the party's decision to remove him was not valid and that he would remain a member of UPRONA.
Mukasi said Tuesday that his party would draw up a document aimed at installing a new team of UPRONA ministers in the government, in which it holds eight portfolios, including that of prime minister.
In New York the UN Security Council resolution on Burundi deploring "extremist groups who continue to undermine the process of national reconciliation" was read out in full session by the acting president of the Security Council Emilio Cardenas of Argentina.
UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali on Wednesday said in a statement that the international community "could not accept a repetition in Burundi of the tragic events of last year in Rwanda," where troops and Hutu militias systematically slaughtered up to a million Tutsis and opposition Hutus.
ras/dn/ss AFP AFP
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