and the coup failed due to an outbreak of violence and international condemnation. On 7 November she left the embassy and returned to her residence under French military guard. The death of Ndadaye and others in the presidential line of succession left her de facto head of state of Burundi. Tutsi extremists continued to employ violence in the aftermath of the coup, intimidating Kinigi's government and preventing it from leading the country. Kinigi's government—comprising 15 of the original 22 ministers—stabilised the situation in Bujumbura, the capital, but proved unable to contain the ethnic violence across the country following the coup, in which thousands died. The radical Tutsi UPRONA faction became disgruntled with her actions before and especially during the crisis. With regards to her failure to attend a commemoration for the anniversary of the death of erstwhile UPRONA leader Louis Rwagasore on 13 October, the newspaper Panafrika wrote, "for a prime minister who said she was from Uprona, missing this ceremony was for some 'proof' that Sylvie Kinigi was not from Uprona. Some do not hesitate to say that if it hadn't been for this October 21 coup, she would now be at FRODEBU". The newspaper L’Observateur argued "not having been mandated by UPRONA, knowing simply that she is Prime Minister thanks to God and to Ndadaye and to FRODEBU, the first lady [sic] will behave during the crisis of October 1993 as one would expect. She will be totally absent and when she tries to come forward, it is to tirelessly repeat the theses of FRODEBU". On 15 November she wrote a letter to the Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity, appealing for a military intervention to restore order in the country. The army and opposition politicians denounced this as a proposal for a "recolonization" of Burundi. In December her government appointed a commission of inquiry led by the Procurator General to investigate human rights abuses that had occurred after the coup, but its work never began due to objections from the parliamentary opposition. Kinigi, burdened by the leadership responsibility placed upon her by the political vacuum, sought to enable the selection of a new president. On 9 January 1994, at her direction, the National Assembly modified Article 85 of the Burundian constitution, empowering itself to elect the next president of Burundi. Four days later the National Assembly elected Ntaryamira to become president in a vote, 78