According to Monday’s partial outcomes, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has clinched a decisive election victory, extending his authoritarian rule for an additional 5 years.
Kagame, who has been the de facto chief for the reason that finish of the 1994 genocide and formally president since 2000, secured 99.15% of the vote, in line with the National Election Commission, with 79% of ballots counted.
This surpasses the 98.79% he achieved within the 2017 election, leaving his two licensed opponents far behind.
Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party garnered simply 0.53% of the vote, whereas impartial candidate Philippe Mpayimana acquired 0.32%.
The final result was broadly anticipated, given accusations in opposition to Kagame’s regime of suppressing the media and political opposition and barring a number of outstanding critics from the race.
Following the announcement of the partial outcomes, Kagame expressed his gratitude to Rwandans in a speech from the headquarters of his ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), marking the start of his fourth time period.
“The results that have been presented indicate a very high score, these are not just figures, even if it was 100%, these are not just numbers,” he mentioned.
“These figures show the trust, and that is what is most important,” he added. “I am hopeful that together we can solve all problems.”
Full provisional outcomes are due by July 20, and definitive outcomes by July 27.
With 65% of the inhabitants aged beneath 30, Kagame is the one chief most Rwandans have ever identified.
The 66-year-old is credited with rebuilding a traumatized nation after the genocide, however he’s additionally accused of ruling in a local weather of concern at house and fomenting instability within the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Big margin
Over 9 million Rwandans – about 2 million first-time voters – have been registered to solid their poll, with the presidential race being held concurrently legislative elections for the primary time.
“(Kagame) gives us everything we ask him, such as health insurance. This is why he wins by a big margin,” mentioned 34-year-old mechanic Francois Rwabakina.
Kagame received with greater than 93% of the vote in 2003, 2010, and in 2017 when he once more simply defeated the identical two challengers.
He has overseen controversial constitutional amendments that shortened presidential phrases from seven to 5 years and reset the clock for the Rwandan chief, permitting him to doubtlessly rule till 2034.
Rwandan courts had rejected appeals from outstanding opposition figures Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire to take away earlier convictions that successfully disqualified them from Monday’s vote.
The election fee additionally barred high-profile Kagame critic Diane Rwigara, citing points together with her paperwork – the second time she was excluded from working.
Well-oiled PR machine
The imbalance between the candidates was evident in the course of the three-week marketing campaign, because the well-oiled PR machine of the ruling RPF swung into excessive gear.
The occasion’s purple, white, and blue colours and its slogans “Tora Kagame Paul” (“Vote Paul Kagame”) and “PK24” (“Paul Kagame 2024”) have been all over the place.
His rivals struggled to make their voices heard, with barely 100 folks displaying as much as some occasions.
Despite the lackluster turnout at his rallies, Habineza hailed the “free and fair atmosphere.”
“This is a very good show of the level of growth in democracy in our country. We have been able to campaign (across) the whole country,” he instructed Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Kagame’s RPF militia is lauded for ending the 1994 genocide when it marched on Kigali – ousting the Hutu extremists who had unleashed 100 days of bloodletting focusing on the Tutsi minority.
The perpetrators killed round 800,000 folks, primarily Tutsis but in addition Hutu moderates.
Kagame has overseen a outstanding financial restoration, with gross home product (GDP) rising by a median of seven.2% per 12 months between 2012 and 2022, though the World Bank says nearly half the inhabitants lives on lower than $2.15 a day.
Ahead of the vote, Amnesty International mentioned Rwanda’s political opposition confronted “severe restrictions … as well as threats, arbitrary detention, prosecution, trumped-up charges, killings and enforced disappearances.”
Abroad, Kigali is accused of meddling within the troubled jap DRC, the place a U.N. report says its troops are combating alongside M23 rebels.
Kigali was additionally accused of killing tens of 1000’s of Hutus within the DRC throughout its pursuit of fleeing genocide perpetrators.
Discussion of those alleged massacres stays taboo and is taken into account genocide “revisionism” in Rwanda.
In the parliamentary election, 589 candidates have been chasing 80 seats, together with 53 elected by common suffrage. In the outgoing meeting, the RPF held 40 seats and its allies 11, whereas Habineza’s occasion had two.
Another 27 spots are reserved for girls, the youth, and other people with disabilities.
Source: www.dailysabah.com