Burundi | Parliamentary polls postponed to June amid unrest 

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza has postponed parliamentary elections for a week from May 26 until early June, as police yesterday battled hundreds of protesters, wounding at least one person, in continuing unrest over the president’s bid for a third term in office.
The parliamentary elections will be held on June 5 in the decree signed on Tuesday, Willy Nyamitwe, the presidential adviser for media, told The Associated Press.
Nkurunziza’s decision to delay the elections followed requests from the electoral commission, opposition politicians and the international community, said Nyamitwe.
The postponement comes after a failed coup last week which was triggered by weeks of unrest over Nkurunziza’s effort to extend his time in power.
Police were back on the streets yesterday battling protesters, who have continued to demonstrate despite Nkrurunziza’s order for an end to the street actions. At least 15 protesters have died since the protests began more than three weeks ago when the ruling party announced Nkurunzinza would stand for another term.
Yesterday police shot tear gas canisters and live bullets, some from belted machine guns, mostly in the air, in the unrest hotspot of Musaga, a neighborhood of the capital, Bujumbura. Army personnel remained in the area did not intervene.
A protester who identified himself only as Ndayisaba said he was shot in his leg.
“I was in the frontline of the protests and then felt something warm trickling down my leg and I realized I had been shot,” he said while being treated in a local clinic.
Protesters say Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term in the June 26 presidential election is illegal because the constitution only allows two five-year terms.
Burundi’s Constitution states a president can be popularly elected to two five-year terms. Nkurunziza maintains he can run for a third term because parliament elected him for his first one. Tom Odula and Gerard Nzohabona, Bujumbura , AP