by Our Foreign Desk

THREE candidates have pulled out of tomorrow’s presidential election in Burundi in an attempt to discredit the process.

Former presidents Domitien Ndayizeye, Sylvestre Ntibantunganya and former parliament speaker Jean Minani claimed in the letter to the electoral commission that the political and security environment could not guarantee free and fair elections.

Opposition leaders have complained that they have been unable to campaign because of intimidation by government security agents.

Commission spokesman Prosper Ntahorwamiye said at the weekend he had received the letter but the names of the candidates will remain on the ballot papers, which had already been printed and distributed.

President Pierre Nkurunziza, who is running for a third term, chose to spend Saturday, the last day of the campaign, in his home town Ngozi, watching a football match between local teams.

Opposition protests against Mr Nkurunziza’s candidacy have led to 77 deaths and more than 140,000 people have fled.

While the county’s post-civil war constitution limits presidents to two terms, Mr Nkurunziza’s ruling CNDD-FDD party — which holds three-quarters of seats in the National Assembly and two-thirds in the Senate — has argued that he could stand again since he was elected to his first term by parliament and not a direct vote of the people.

A failed military coup in May was followed by US State Department and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights claims that the government was cracking down on dissent.