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Voters in Burundi are heading to the polls amid a backdrop of surging inflation, fuel shortages and complaints of political repression.<\/p>\n
Seats in the National Assembly and local councils are up for grabs but \u00c9variste Ndayishimiye is safe in his role as president as he is serving a seven-year term that ends in 2027.<\/p>\n
The elections will test the popularity of the governing CNDD-FDD party, a former rebel group which has been in power for the past 20 years.<\/p>\n
The East African nation was already one of the world’s poorest countries, but residents there have been put under further pressure by a recent spike in the price of goods such as food.<\/p>\n
Opposition parties have complained that their supporters have been harassed and intimidated by members of the CNDD-FDD’s youth league, the Imbonerakure.<\/p>\n
Gabriel Banzawitonde, leader of the APDR party, said: ”People are so intimidated that they tell you they cannot wear any party colours other than the ruling ones’.<\/p>\n
But he said they were not giving in and “once in the voting booth, they promise to vote for you”.<\/p>\n
Several political analysts approached by the BBC declined to talk about the elections for fear of repercussions. One expert, who did not want to be named, said: “To avoid unnecessary trouble, you keep quiet.”<\/p>\n
”We pointed out from the start that everything was being tailor-made [to fit the ruling party],” they said, suggesting that a CNDD-FDD win was a done deal.<\/p>\n
Recently, some party officials have even been suggesting that a one-party system may be beneficial for Burundi.<\/p>\n
Chronic shortages of foreign currency, which is needed for imports such as medicine and fuel, have led to a decline in Burundi’s economic activity.<\/p>\n
Analysts say that Burundi now runs on less than one month’s-worth of foreign currency reserves for imports, while the regional standard is to have at least four months.<\/p>\n
Queues of cars stretching from service stations for around 100m (330ft) have become a common sight. They often last for days or weeks as motorists wait for fuel, which is being rationed by the authorities.<\/p>\n
According to the World Bank, the annual domestic income of an average Burundian in 2023 was $193 (\u00a3142), the lowest within the East African Community trade bloc.<\/p>\n
Faustin Ndikumana, an economist and anti-corruption activist, believes Burundi’s situation will not improve any time soon.<\/p>\n
”Good governance has to be established. We’re not there yet,” he told the BBC.<\/p>\n
But the governing party and its leader hold an opposing view.<\/p>\n
President Ndayishimiye has said residents of Bujumbura, Burundi’s largest city, “looked bad in 2005” but now “had money to buy shoes, new clothes and to build a house”.<\/p>\n
And the CNDD-FDD often responds to criticism by reminding Burundians that the party fought for the Hutu ethnic group – who make up the majority of the population – to access power, after four decades of what they considered as oppression by the minority Tutsis.<\/p>\n