A total of 9.01 million voters are registered for this election, which will be coupled with the legislative elections for the first time.
A de facto strongman in Rwanda since the end of the Tutsi genocide in 1994, Paul Kagame was elected president by parliament after the resignation of Pasteur Bizimungu in 2000. He was then re-elected three times during elections by universal suffrage in 2003, 2010 and 2017, each time bringing together more than 90% of the votes.
On July 15, he will face the same opponents as in 2017: the leader of the Green Democratic Party Frank Habineza and the former journalist Philippe Mpayimana. He then obtained more than 98.79% of the votes, Philippe Mpayimana 0.73% and Frank Habineza 0.48%.
Several opposition figures (Victoire Ingabire, Bernard Ntaganda) did not have the opportunity to present themselves, due to past convictions. The courts rejected their requests to have their civil rights restored.
Read also: Rwanda: the lists of candidates for the Presidential and legislative elections revealed
The electoral commission also invalidated the candidacy of Diane Rwigara, due to non-compliant documents. This anti-Kagame voice had already been excluded from the 2017 presidential election, accused of falsification of documents and arrested before being cleared by the courts in 2018.
New: the presidential term is now five years instead of seven.
A controversial constitutional revision, approved by referendum in December 2015, introduced the transition from the seven-year term to the five-year term, maintaining a maximum of two mandates.
This modification aroused strong criticism because it reset to zero the number of mandates of Paul Kagame, who had already completed two seven-year terms. The head of state was also authorized to run for a transitional seven-year term 2017-2024.
This reform therefore allows Paul Kagame, in the event of re-election, to remain in power until 2034.
She also synchronized the legislative elections with the presidential elections.
More than 500 candidates will run for the 80 parliamentary seats.
Par Le360 Africa (with AFP)
06/22/2024 at 7:09 a.m.
