Burundi Denies More Power To President

Burundi’s parliament turned down a request by the central African country’s president for additional powers to contain escalating violence between minority Tutsis and the Hutu majority.

The powers sought by President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, a Hutu, included rule by presidential decree, a nationwide dusk-to-dawn curfew and the appointment of military administrators in some areas. Political meetings would have been banned and the media subjected to strict censorship.

After four days of debate, the assembly voted 38-13 late Tuesday against the president’s plan. Eleven lawmakers abstained and 19 were absent.

Most legislators who voted against the measures said they would have given the Tutsi-dominated military too much power, Western diplomats in Bujumbura, the capital, said.