The vice president of Burundi’s election commission, Spes Caritas Ndironkeye, has stepped down and fled the violence-wracked central African country.

On Saturday, Ndironkeye announced her resignation via a letter and left the country, dealing another blow to the legitimacy of the incumbent president, Pierre Nkurunziza, who is pursuing a controversial bid to run for a third time in Burundi’s presidential elections.

Ndironkeye “left without saying goodbye, without saying where she was going,” AFP quoted an electoral commission source as saying.

Reports added that Illuminata Ndabahagamye, another member of the five-member election board, has also absconded from Burundi.

“What has happened is a catastrophe, but it was inevitable,” said another commission source, adding, “Technically, the election commission can continue to work with four out of five members. But if two have left, no decision can be taken.”

Earlier in the day, the International Crisis Group (ICG) warned that Burundi will be furthered tossed into chaos unless Nkurunziza drops his debatable decision.

“In this climate of fear and uncertainty, several scenarios are possible for Burundi’s immediate future, ranging from the highly improbable withdrawal of President Nkurunziza’s candidacy to the significantly more dangerous path toward a more or less violent, and intractable, conflict,” the ICG said in a report.

The developments came a day after demonstrators in the Musaga district near Burundi’s capital city of Bujumbura called on the international community to dissuade Nkurunziza from running after his re-election bid.

On Friday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Burundian government to stop employing “excessive force” against the opposition.

Daniel Bekele, the executive director of the Africa division of the HRW, said, “The Burundian authorities should call a halt to the crackdown on peaceful opponents and critics.

“They should order the police to stop using excessive deadly force, investigate the deaths and beatings of protesters at the hands of police, and hold those responsible for excessive force to account.”

The clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces have claimed the lives of over 30 people in Burundi since the onset of violence in late April. Protesters say that Nkurunziza’s re-election bid runs counter to the country’s constitution and the Arusha Agreements, which ended the civil war of 1993 that lasted about a dozen years and claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people.

The situation was further exacerbated in the country after Major General Godefroid Niyombare, a former intelligence chief, launched a failed coup attempt in May.

FNR/HSN/HMV