The Party for National Recovery (, PARENA) is a minor

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

. It was founded in May 1994 by the former president

Jean-Baptiste Bagaza Jean-Baptiste Bagaza (29 August 19464 May 2016) was a Burundian army officer and politician who ruled Burundi as president and ''de facto'' military dictator from November 1976 to September 1987. Born into the Tutsi ethnic group in 1946, Bagaza ...

. Bagaza, an ethnic Tutsi, had established a

military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...

in Burundi from 1976 until his deposition in 1987, after which he lived in exile. He was allowed to return to the country during its democratization under

Pierre Buyoya Pierre Buyoya (24 November 1949 – 17 December 2020) was a Burundian army officer and politician who served two terms as President of Burundi in 1987 to 1993 and 1996 to 2003. He was the second-longest-serving president in Burundian history. An ...

after 1992. PARENA draws most of its support from the Tutsi minority. In the June 2005 local elections the party received 2.3 percent of the vote, winning 75 of the 3,225 seats on local councils. The party received 1.7% of the vote in the July 2005

parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

, but failed to win a seat.Elections in Burundi
African Elections Database Its support remained low thereafter. In 2014 Bagaza resigned the leadership of the party and was replaced by Zénon Nimubona. PARENA was accused of having links with Tutsi militias in 2000 and of encouraging violence against the

Front for Democracy in Burundi The Front for Democracy in Burundi (, FRODEBU) is a democratic socialist political party in Burundi. History It was formed by followers of Melchior Ndadaye from the disbanded Burundi Workers' Party in 1986. FRODEBU was legalized as a politic ...

(FRODEBU), a Hutu party. It was said in 1996 to have a

youth wing A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...

called the Front of Patriotic Youth (''Front de la jeunesse patriotique'', FJP).

References

Political parties in Burundi Political parties established in 1994 1994 establishments in Burundi {{Burundi-stub