Burundi: Nation clears constitutional referendum, looks ahead to presidential poll

Based on interim results announced on Tuesday, 91.2 percent of Burundi's estimated three million registered voters polled "yes" for a new constitution that slashes the imbalance of power between the minority Tutsis and the majority Hutus; the country's main ethnic groups. The key elements in the constitution are its power sharing arrangements. The president, to be elected by parliament from the winning political party, must have as one of his deputies someone of a different ethnic group and political party. In addition, the new constitution provides for a 60-percent Hutu 40-percent Tutsi representation in all institutions of government, except the army and the police where the ratio is 50-50. This gives greater power to the Hutu who had, despite their superior number, been the political underdogs of the two ethnic groups.