Burundi: presidential candidacies to be submitted from 13 to 22 November
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Umuseke
Eleven parties, including the FNL, back President Évariste Ndayishimiye’s candidacy in Burundi’s presidential election on 3 May 2027, with a second round scheduled for 1 June if necessary. According to Umuseke, candidacy files will be submitted to the electoral commission from 13 to 22 November 2026, while FRODEBU is declining to field a candidate.
Candidacies for the Burundian presidential election must be submitted to the National Electoral Commission from 13 to 22 November 2026, Umuseke reports. The first round is set for 3 May 2027. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, a second round will take place on 1 June 2027.
Several candidates have already declared themselves: Abel Gashatsi (UPRONA), Valentin Kavakure (FPN Imboneza), Gabriel Banzawitonde (APDR), Francis Rohero (FPI) and Gaspard Kobako (AND Intadohoka). President Évariste Ndayishimiye will be the candidate of the ruling party, the CNDD-FDD.
On 9 November, he said on X that he had received eleven parties, including RADEBU, PIEBU, PLP, Kaze-FDD, MSP-Inkinzo, PL, MPH, PMP, Sangwe-PADER, RPB and FROLINA, which have decided to support him. The FNL had already announced its backing.
Conversely, the opposition party Sahwanya-FRODEBU has announced that it will not field a candidate, citing reservations about the functioning of the bodies responsible for organising the vote. It points to the conduct of the 2025 elections (members of parliament, senators, governors, communal councillors), in which the CNDD-FDD won almost all of the votes.
The date of the vote had been announced on 4 November: Burundi’s presidential election will take place on 3 May 2027. On 9 November, eleven parties pledged their support to Ndayishimiye.
