SUMMARY REPORT OF THE PLENARY SESSION OF APRIL 18, 2024

In the year two thousand and twenty-four, on the eighteenth day of April, senators gathered in the Senate hemicycle in Gitega for the 186^th plenary session of the sixth legislature under the leadership of the Honourable Denise NDADAYE, First Deputy-Speaker of the Senate, to analyze and adopt the organic bill n^o. 1/11 of May 20, 2019 on the electoral code.

This session, which was enhanced by the presence of 29 senators and a Government Representative, Mrs. Domine BANYANKIMBONA, Minister of Justice, began as usual with a prayer at 10:47 a.m.

Opening the session, the First Deputy-Speaker of the Senate first welcomed the Honourable senators and subsequently, after a word of welcome to the Government delegate, invited the latter to present the explanatory memorandum of the above-mentioned bill.

In her presentation, the Minister indicated that since the promulgation of the organic law n^o. 1/11 of May 20, 2019 amending law n^o. 1/20 of June 3, 2014 on the Electoral Code governing the legal framework for elections in Burundi, several changes have occurred thus implying the need to modify it. This is in particular the promulgation of organic law n^o. 1/05 of March 16, 2023 determining and delimiting the Provinces, Communes, Zones, Villages and/or Quarters of the Republic of Burundi, specifies Domine BANYANKIMBONA.

This organic bill also intervenes to resolve the difficulties encountered by the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) in the implementation of certain provisions of the Penal Code in force, concludes the Minister.

After her presentation, the First Deputy-Speaker of the Senate gave the floor to Honourable senators to speak in the general debate.

Asked when crimes of carelessness are recorded, the Minister replied that these offences are recorded in the event of conviction of the alleged perpetrator.

As for knowing exactly who is responsible for publishing the results of the votes, the Minister replied that after signing the minutes by the members of the polling station and the political representatives, only the President of the polling station has the prerogatives to publish the voting results.

To the concern of senators as to how the CENI will be able to identify cases of electoral incapacity, the Minister indicated that this bill provides for a regime of electoral incapacity and specifies the categories of people targeted. Likewise, a certain number of documents required to be a candidate are provided for and the verification of cases of incapacity is carried out on the basis of the documents presented by the candidate in the elections, for example, the extract from the criminal record.

After the Minister’s responses, the bill was put to a vote and was adopted unanimously by the 39 voting senators, including 29 present and 10 proxies.

The session, which took place in a climate of perfect understanding, was closed at 11:50 a.m. with a prayer.