Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye has been named as the candidate of his ruling party for the presidential election due to be held next year, the party said.
Ndayishimiye, 57, has led the East African nation since 2020, assuming office after the death of former president Pierre Nkurunziza.
In a statement posted on X, the ruling CNDD-FDD announced that Ndayishimiye would seek a new seven-year term. Authorities have yet to announce an official date for the election.
He reacted on X by thanking the party’s members “for putting their trust in me”.
“As you have already seen, with what we have done up to now, I pledge to continue the work we are doing, with all of you, so that all Burundi profits in peace,” he said.
Ndayishimiye, a general and former ruling party head who held various roles under Nkurunziza, is the favourite going into the election.
He was first elected president in May 2020, in polls marked by accusations of fraud and the disqualification of his main opponent.
A spokesman for one of the opposition parties said the upcoming election “will not be an election by international standards”.
“Ndayishimiye has already spent more than five years without providing fuel, foreign currency or the basic necessities the population needs,” said Epitace Nshimirimana, a spokesman for Movement for Solidarity and Development (MSD), whose leader is in exile.
“This means he is being given another seven years to go on impoverishing and destroying the country,” he added.
Ndayishimiye currently holds the presidency of the African Union, which runs for a year from February.
Africanews