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Global

Burundi group of opposition parties says to boycott elections


    BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - A group of 17 opposition parties in Burundi have decided to boycott the parliamentary election next week and presidential polls on July 15 as they do not believe voting will be fair and they oppose the president's bid for a third term, one party official said.

    "We will not go there (to elections). Political opposition parties already decided that," Francois Nyamoya, secretary general of the MSD party, one of 17 parties in the group, told Reuters. He said voting would "not be credible."

    The decision was taken a few days ago to boycott the votes, including the parliamentary poll scheduled for Monday, as well as the presidential, local council and senate polls.

    (Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Hugh Lawson)