Requiem for CNARED?

From last week, the coalition of the opposition in exile-CNARED suffers defections. Some observers think it is living its last moments. Is everything lost for the coalition? Response elements.

CNARED during its creation

Members of CNARED are leaving the platform one by one. Words such as ‘disappointment’ and ‘failure’ appear many times in the statements made by those who decided to quit the platform. Three years after its creation, many people who hoped to constitute an alternative power to the ruling power are disappointed.

Jérémie Minani of RDB party, Jean Bosco Ndayikengurukiye of Kaze FDD party, Frédéric Bamvuginyumvira of Sahwanya Frodebu party and Chauvineau Mugwengezo say that the leadership of the platform ‘deviated from the objectives set during the creation of the coalition’.

CNARED accustomed us to washing our dirty linen in the public. Those who are defecting from the platform now are no exception to the rule. They seem to have opted to settle their accounts through press releases and tweets.

Those who defect already say to prepare a replica to CNARED. All of them want a version of the coalition ‘more responsible and able to fully play its role of saving the country’.

CNARED leadership speaks of unfounded alibi

Onésime Nduwimana, the spokesman for CNARED indicates that the reasons given by those who defected are ill-founded. For him, they have always sabotaged any development project of the coalition. ” Who did not see the letters they wrote to denounce the unification of the internal and external opposition? (Nairobi and Entebbe initiative)”

As a reminder, the management of CNARED met the internal opposition in Nairobi in January and in Entebbe in September last year. The objective was to speak the same language and adopt a common position on issues such as the respect for the Arusha agreement and the Arusha talks.

The meeting was quickly challenged by major leaders of the platform who deplored the fact of not being consulted for such a meeting of paramount importance.

The former spokesman for the ruling party CNDD-FDD, now in exile, also speaks about a coup plotted in June to remove the direction of the platform. This is the same group that subsequently lost the election. Those bad losers, he says, are now trying to slander the platform that has ‘ made its way despite all these difficulties known and unknown to the public ‘.

The management of CNARED believes that “this group wants to make an independent group, but finds that it would be difficult for it to break through as long as CNARED exists, hence the strategy of quitting the group one by one.”

That strategy seems to work. Other departures are announced for very soon.
It is difficult to know in these conditions if the group led by Jean Minani will counter this hemorrhage and limit the breakage. An irreversible divorce with two families looking daggers at each other is highly likely.

Caption : CNARED during its creation

Weakening platform

The electoral deadlines for the 2020 elections are fast approaching and for several political organizations, the time is for assessment, readjustment and positioning. For CNARED, which was formed mainly to fight violations of the Constitution and the Arusha Accord, the failure is rather harsh. The Constitution has been revised through the referendum. The disputed term of President Nkurunziza in 2015 is coming to an end. No one has been able to stop him from running the country for the last three years.

As if that was not enough, a lot was written in the media and social networks about the platform. With intermittent internal chicaneries, the result is that Burundians who had placed their trust in this platform got fed up with them. Everyone is watching the collapse of what a political scientist had called “the giant with the feet of clay.

It is true that this coalition had within it political figures that have been part of the country’s managers. Together, they had inspired some credibility and confidence during the creation of CNARED.
But this was without counting on the ego war where everyone wanted to impose his leadership and policies to others. Alliances were subsequently made and undone. And some decided to leave the already sinking ship.

Currently, these new defections come to destroy CNARED. And at this point, it’s hard to believe that a new platform will be more successful. What goals will they set to embody change in the face of the upcoming elections? What will it propose again that could galvanize and rally people to the cause?

And in all of this, what is the fate for the group led by Jean Minani? Will it survive these defections? The future of the opposition coalition in exile seems problematic.

For its part, Bujumbura continues its route with the revision of the Constitution, the roadmap of Kayanza and the study of the electoral code. The power in place has set the stage. The ruling party said “With or without you (the opposition), ” tunasonga mbele ”We move forward!