The Burundian government has welcomed a call by East African Community (EAC) to postpone the upcoming parliamentary and presidential votes by at least a month and a half.

"The Burundian government welcomes the proposal of the heads of state" to delay the elections, government spokesman Philippe Nzobonariba said on Sunday, amid violent protests sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in office.

Elections in Burundi should be delayed by at least a month and a half and all violence must stop, East African leaders said Sunday after a regional summit on the crisis.

"The summit, concerned at the impasse in Burundi, strongly calls for a long postponement of the elections not less than a month and a half," the East African Community (EAC) said in a statement read out by its secretary general Richard Sezibera after the meeting of regional leaders in Tanzania.

The leaders, however, stopped short of calling for Burundian president to abandon his controversial bid for a third consecutive term, which has sparked weeks of civil unrest.

The Burundian government spokesman added that the summit of East African leaders in Tanzania "did not discuss" the controversy surrounding Nkurunziza's third bid and therefore the government considered the matter "closed".

The EAC statement also called "on all parties to stop violence," and for "the creation of conditions for the return of refugees" that have fled the turmoil in Burundi.

Parliamentary elections and presidential election in Burundi are scheduled to take place on June 5 and June 26.

Opposition calls for more protest

Following the release of the EAC statement, Burundi's opposition called on protesters to return to the streets.

"We are disappointed because the summit said nothing on the question that we are concerned about. We did not descend on the streets to get the elections delayed by a month and a half," said one of the protest leaders, Pacifique Nininahazwe.

"We are going to stage even bigger demonstrations than we have done so far in order to get Nkurunziza to leave office," he vowed.

Burundi has been the scene of violent clashes ever since Nkurunziza announced his plans to run for a third term in late April.

The protesters say the president’s move is in violation of the constitution, which only allows two five-year terms for a president.

Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader, argues that his re-election bid is lawful as he did not rise to power through direct vote following the civil war. He has been Burundi’s president for the past 10 years.

Rights groups say that at least 20 people have died in protests since the president announced on 25 April that he would seek a third term. The UN says more than 90,000 people have fled to neighboring countries fearing political violence.

MRA/NT/AS