AUTHORITARIAN AFRICAN LEADERS WITH A THIN VENEER OF DEMOCRATIC LEGITIMACY ANN GARRISON MAY 30,2015 - A + A 0 Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza is seeking a third five-year term in office, despite violent street protest, and a failed coup détat. Nkurunziza was elected by Burundi's Parliament in 2005, and he now claims that the Burundian constitution allows him to run for election twice by voters enjoying "universal suffrage," and the Burundian constitutional court has upheld his claim . The US, EU, and Western media have, nevertheless, relentlessly decried Nkurunziza's decision. Western powers and press fail to note that neighboring DR Congo's President, Joseph Kabila, was appointed in 2001, not elected by universal suffrage, that Kabila then ran and claimed victory in 2006 and 2011, and that many were killed in election violence both times. They also fail to note that neighboring Rwanda'...
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