“This report analyses how the control of the institutions by the ruling party and the boycott of the 2010 elections by the main opposition parties made the power-sharing system defined by the 2000 Arusha agreement irrelevant. This deal was instrumental in ending the decade-long ethnic conflict that ravaged the country and establishing the foundations of a democratic system. “The Arusha power-sharing agreement has been replaced by a de facto one-party system characterised by the end of dialogue between the opposition and the ruling party, the government’s authoritarian drift and the resumption of political violence”, says Thierry Vircoulon, Crisis Group’s Central Africa Project Director. “Respect for the political minorities and rule of law has been largely ignored since 2010”. The dust has not yet settled since the 2010 elections. After boycotting the electoral process, the opposition parties formed a coalition (the Democratic Alliance for Change ADC-Ikibiri) and several opposition leaders went into exile. A wave of mutual violence by the ruling party and the opposition ensued, including by armed groups operating in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).”
