Burundi government considers poll shift amid prolonged protests

Burundi's electoral body is considering delaying planned elections in response to an appeal from African leaders, a government official said on Wednesday, after more than a month of protests against the president's bid for a third term.

President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third mandate has plunged the nation into its worst crisis since an ethnically charged civil war ended in 2005. The protesters say his move violates the constitution, which sets a two-term limit.

The almost daily protests erupted on April 26 and activists say more than 30 people have been killed so far, making the timetable that envisages a parliamentary vote on Friday and a June 26 presidential poll appear increasingly untenable.

With no sign of an end to the unrest, African leaders meeting at a summit in Tanzania called for a delay in the election timetable of at least a month and a half. Western donors and opposition parties have also urged a postponement.

"The election commission is working on it," the Burundi official told Reuters when asked whether the schedule was being revised, adding it was a response to the African leaders' call.

The commission has "to consult with political parties involved in the process" and an announcement could be made later on Wednesday or on Thursday, the official said.

The president has previously defended his decision to run again by citing a constitutional court ruling saying he can do so, but the government has also said it is open to the idea of postponing the poll schedule.

The violence in Burundi has unnerved a region with a history of ethnic conflict. Diplomats say the longer the clashes continue, the greater the risk of old ethnic wounds being re-opened.

Burundi has the same ethnic mix of majority Hutus and a Tutsi minority as Rwanda, where a 1994 genocide killed 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The commission, whose decisions are signed off by the president, had already delayed the parliamentary and local council elections to Friday, a little more than a week later than originally planned.

Those votes could now be shifted back further, along with the June 26 presidential vote and July 17 senate election.

Witnesses said the streets of the capital Bujumbura were relatively calm on Wednesday. A small group of protesters gathered in Butarere and Ngagare, two of the city's flashpoint districts, but other areas were generally quiet.

Demonstrations have focused largely on the capital, where the opposition boasts most of its support. Rural areas, where Nkurunziza has his main powerbase, have generally been calm.