Aljazeera

National Freedom Council’s Agathon Rwasa files case in constitutional court, claiming evidence of fraud in May 20 polls.

Burundi’s main opposition party has filed a case in the country’s constitutional court challenging last week’s presidential election result, claiming there is evidence of fraud.

Burundi’s election commission said on Monday the governing party candidate, retired General Evariste Ndayishimiye, had won the presidential election with 69 percent of the vote. It added that candidate Agathon Rwasa got 24 percent of the vote and the election was peaceful.

But Rwasa, the opposition leader of the National Freedom Council (CNL), while speaking to reporters on Thursday after filing the complaint, said “appalling errors were made across the country,” adding that “no district or province was spared”.

“We have provided evidence that there has been a massive fraud,” Rwasa said. “The announced results are false.”

The court will have until June 5 to decide the case.

Rwasa said if the court did not rule in the CNL’s favour, the party would take the case to the East African Court of Justice in Arusha, Tanzania.

If the legal challenge is not successful, Ndayishimiye will be inaugurated in August for a seven-year term.