Rwanda’s ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), on Saturday March 9 designated the country’s president, Paul Kagame, as its candidate for the July 15 presidential election, for a likely fourth seven-year term .
The FPR declared having elected him, without opposition, during a congress which ended on Saturday. Paul Kamage, 66, has ruled Rwanda with an iron fist since the mid-1990s and won the presidency, each time with more than 90% of the vote, in the 2003, 2010 and 2017 elections.
One of his few competitors in the presidential election is the leader of the opposition Green Party, Frank Habineza. A 47-year-old MP, the latter obtained only 0.45% of the votes in the 2017 presidential election. He is placed third by current polls, criticized by rights defense associations for their irregularities and intimidation at the polls. against voters.
Presidential and legislative elections on the same date
Mr. Kagame’s other possible competitor, Victoire Ingabire, leader of the unregistered DALFA-Umurunzi (“development and freedom for all”) movement, is at this stage excluded from the presidential race due to a previous conviction. A court ruling, scheduled for March 13, will say whether or not she is allowed to run in that election.
Rwanda plans its presidential and legislative elections on July 15, in line with a decision last year by the government to hold those polls on the same date.
Twenty-four women parliamentarians, two youth representatives and one representative of Rwandans with disabilities will also be chosen by electoral colleges and committees on July 16. Candidates will be able to campaign from June 22 to July 12, according to the electoral commission.
Rwanda presents itself as one of the most stable countries on the African continent, but several human rights groups accuse Mr. Kagame of ruling it in a climate of fear, stifling dissent and freedom of expression.
