1993 Burundian presidential election

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Registered	2,355,126
Turnout	97.31%
Nominee Melchior Ndadaye Pierre Buyoya Party FRODEBU UPRONA Popular vote 1,483,904 742,360 Percentage 65.68% 32.86%
Results byprovince
President before election Pierre Buyoya UPRONA ElectedPresident Melchior Ndadaye FRODEBU

Presidential elections were held inBurundi on 1 June 1993 following the approval of a new constitution in areferendum the previous year. They were the first multi-party elections for thepresidency, the only previous elections in1984 having been held at a time when the country was aone-party state. They were also only the second contested national elections held in the country since independence in 1962.

Three candidates entered the contest, withMelchior Ndadaye of theFront for Democracy in Burundi defeating incumbent PresidentPierre Buyoya with 66% of the vote. Voter turnout was 97%.^[1]

This election was a watershed for Burundi. It represented the end of the military-backed Tutsi-dominated state that had been in place since 1966, and the firstpeaceful transfer of power in the country’s republican history.

• Pierre Buyoya, the incumbent president who seized power in a 1987 military coup. A Tutsi fromBururi Province, he was the candidate for the rulingUnion for National Progress. He ran on a platform of national unity and was supported by two predominantly Tutsi parties, theRally for Democracy and Economic and Social Development (RADDES) and the Social Democratic Party.
• Melchior Ndadaye', the leader and candidate of theFront for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU), a predominantly Hutu party founded in 1986 and officially registered in 1992. Ndadaye's candidacy was supported by three other mainly Hutu parties - theRally for the People of Burundi (RPB), thePeople's Party (PP), and theLiberal Party (PL).
• Pierre-Claver Sendegeya, a Hutu and candidate of the monarchistPeople's Reconciliation Party (PRP).

Melchior Ndadaye's election victory put FRODEBU in prime position for a comfortable win in theparliamentary election held on 29 June 1993.

Ndadaye was sworn in as the first Hutupresident of Burundi on 10 July 1993. His rule would be short, however, as he was assassinated on 21 October 1993 during amilitary coup attempt by elements of the predominantly Tutsi army. Thereafter, the country plunged into a full-scalecivil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

• Presidential elections in Burundi
• 1993 elections in Africa
• 1993 in Burundi