Burundi protest organisers who have staged six days of demonstrations against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term of office have called for protests to be halted for two days, a civil society leader said on Saturday.

“We decided to stop demonstrations for two days, first to allow those who lost their family members in the protests to observe mourning and, second, we want the protesters to regain energy before resuming the fight Monday,” said Pacifique Nininahazwe, head of Focode, one of the 300 civil society groups that have called for the demonstrations.

The presidency has described the demonstrations in the capital as an “insurrection” and warned protesters of “severe sanctions”.

The opposition says Nkurunziza is violating the constitution by seeking a third five-year term, a claim his supporters dispute. The honorable thing to do by President Nkurunziza is rescind his decision and give the Burundi People a gift of democracy that his Predecessors fought for.