Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza (1st R) waits to vote in a constitutional referendum in Ngozi Province, Burundi, on May 17, 2018. Vote counting after Burundi's constitutional referendum held on Thursday has ended, but the compilation is still going on before the publication of provisional results, the country's electoral commission said Friday. (Xinhua/Evrard Ngendakumana)
BUJUMBURA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Vote counting after Burundi's constitutional referendum held on Thursday has ended, but the compilation is still going on before the publication of provisional results, the country's electoral commission said Friday.
"Vote counting has ended, but we are still compiling results from polling stations at the provincial level," said Prosper Ntahorwamiye, spokesman of the Burundian National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI).
Some provinces have already finished the compilation of the referendum results, but there are others that haven't finished, said Ntahorwamiye.
The CENI will then collect compiled results from the country's 18 provinces before publishing provisional results of the constitutional referendum, he said.
He added that no major irregularities were reported during the polling operation of the constitutional referendum.
Local media deployed journalists throughout the east African country's provinces and they reported that most of citizens had voted in favor of the amended constitution.
The draft constitution, which doesn't ban the current president Pierre Nkurunziza to run again in 2020, extends the presidential term from five years provided in the 2005 constitution to seven years and allows the president to serve two consecutive terms.
It will be passed if it is approved by over 50 percent of voters, according to the presidential decree for inviting registered voters to vote in the referendum.
Nkurunziza was elected the president of Burundi by the parliament in 2005. He was re-elected in a universal suffrage in 2010 and in 2015.
Burundi plunged into a crisis in April 2015 when Nkurunziza decided to run his controversial third term bid, which he won in July 2015. His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup in May 2015.
