BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) – Burundians lined up before dawn Monday to vote on a constitution that enshrines Hutu control of parliament and the government after decades of minority Tutsi dominance.

The referendum in this central African nation of 6 million will determine the fate of a constitution that reserves 60 percent of seats in government and parliament for Hutus and 40 percent for Tutsis – the current distribution under an interim constitution. Until that interim charter, the Tutsi minority had dominated politics since Burundi’s independence from Belgium in 1962.

A simple majority is needed for the referendum to pass. If voters reject the proposed final constitution, the interim charter will remain in force until elections for parliament in March and for president in April. The new government will then draft a constitution that will be submitted for another referendum.

The referendum and elections are part of a peace process to end Burundi’s 11-year war between the Tutsi-dominated army and rebels from the Hutu majority. The last holdout Hutu rebel group pledged not to disrupt the referendum, saying it hopes the new constitution will clear the way for the election of a new government with which it could negotiate a political settlement.

Progress toward peace in Burundi could boost efforts to end fighting elsewhere in the vast and troubled Great Lakes region, which includes Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

President Domitien Ndayizeye and the former main rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza, both Hutus, displayed the indelible ink that marked their thumbs to prevent multiple voting.

“Burundians are now ready to enter a new phase of peace and democracy, which begins with this referendum,” Ndayizeye said.

Nkurunziza thanked the international community for supporting Burundi since the peace process began.

Burundi’s 2,100 polling stations closed at 6 p.m., after authorities extended voting for two hours to help voters in places where polls opened late and those prevented from casting ballots because their names were missing from rolls.

Initial results will be released Tuesday and final results are expected Friday. Some 3.1 million people registered to vote in the referendum. There was no immediate indication on the turnout.

There have been no surveys to indicate whether the voters are likely to endorse the constitution. There were signs Monday that Tutsis were skeptical.

“I am here to cast my ballot and I will vote no because I don’t know the contents of the constitution … because officials did not make efforts to educate us on what is in the constitution,” said Immaculate Sindayihebura, a Tutsi civil servant.

The main Tutsi parties had urged a “no” vote, saying the constitution was pro-Hutu and imposed by outsiders – mediators of the 2000 peace deal that was signed in Arusha, Tanzania.

Unidentified assailants lobbed three grenades at a polling station two hours before polls opened in southern Burundi. No one was injured, though electoral workers were there, electoral chief Paul Ngarambe said.

Two Tutsis were later arrested as they tried to distribute some 584 unmarked ballot papers to voters, electoral officials said.

Hutu soldier Eric Bigirumuhirwa was voting “yes.”

“This vote for me means we need get a constitution and a government of national unity that will work to end this war. And I will be able to rest after six years I have been fighting,” Bigirumuhirwa, dressed in civilian clothing, said after casting his ballot.

Civil war broke out in Burundi in October 1993 after Tutsi paratroopers assassinated the country’s first democratically elected leader, a Hutu.

More than 260,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict as it raged across verdant hills, terraced valleys and along the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

AP-ES-02-28-05 1438EST

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