# Transitional Government Installed (2001)

URL: https://allhistories.com/burundi/timeline/2001-transitional-government-installed
Location: Bujumbura, Burundi
Themes: ruler-change

The transitional institutions envisaged by the Arusha Agreement were designed to share power among the parties that had signed it, prepare a new constitution and lead Burundi to elections within three years. Their installation was delayed by disputes over leadership until the July 2001 compromise brokered by Nelson Mandela. On 1 November 2001 Pierre Buyoya was sworn in as transitional president and Domitien Ndayizeye of FRODEBU as vice-president, heading a 26-member cabinet divided between the so-called G7 Hutu-led parties and the G10 Tutsi-led parties. A Transitional National Assembly, presided over by FRODEBU's Jean Minani, and a Transitional Senate were inaugurated in early 2002. Exiled politicians returned under the protection of South African troops. The transition was a turning point in the war's political history, ending the period of Buyoya's purely military legitimacy. But the main rebel groups refused to recognise it and intensified their attacks, including the kidnapping of some 300 pupils from Museuma College in November 2001. Negotiations with the rebels therefore became the central task of the transitional authorities in the following two years. At this point in the timeline (1 November 2001), the President of Burundi was Pierre Buyoya (25 July 1996 – 30 April 2003 (interim until 11 June 1998)).

## Why it matters
The transitional government put the Arusha power-sharing settlement into practice and began the path to the 2005 elections.

Ruler at the Time: [Pierre Buyoya (1996–2003)](https://allhistories.com/burundi/rulers/pierre-buyoya-2)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Pierre Buyoya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Buyoya)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Burundi transitional government](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Burundi+transitional+government)
- [Wikipedia — Jean Minani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Minani)
- [BBC News — Burundi country profile](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13085064)
- [Wikipedia — Democracy and Civil War (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burundian_Civil_War)