DATE=3/27/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RWANDA / KAGAME
NUMBER=5-46015
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Political change in Rwanda has put more power
in the hands of an already powerful military. Scott
Stearns reports that the upheaval reflects Rwanda's
ethnic divide.
TEXT: Rwanda's army has always been the power, now it
has the presidency. Defense Minister Paul Kagame is
the acting head of state following the resignation of
the man he made president six-years ago. When rebels
took power and ended the 1994 genocide, they chose an
ethnic-Hutu president in an effort to offset their
appearance as a group of ethnic Tutsi who grew up in
neighboring Uganda.
The President, Pastuer Bizimungu, had little real
power. He went where the army told him to go.
Observers often calculated the seriousness of Rwanda's
interest in a subject by whether President Bizimungu
attended or whether Rwanda was represented by his more
highly-regarded Defense Minister Kagame.
Hutu politicians helped Tutsi officials make the case
that Rwanda was working toward ethnic reconciliation.
They gave the army more time to concentrate on serious
things like running the country.
But six-years on, that relationship began to sour.
Hutu Prime Minister Pierre Celestin Rwigema resigned
following investigations into corruption. Critics say
that campaign largely targeted Hutu officials. One of
President Bizimungu's closest advisors was
assassinated. Then there were a series of cabinet
changes without his consent. The president finally
stepped down last week, accusing the national assembly
of disloyalty.
Mr. Bizimungu's departure could signal the start of a
new image for Rwanda's government with speculation
that Major General Kagame may finally rise to the
office he has always held in practice. Gone are the
days when Tutsi would never have considered ruling
without a Hutu frontman.
Kagame aides are already laying the groundwork.
Theogene Rudasingwa told a radio talk show that there
is no reason Rwanda can not have a Tutsi president.
He says Hutu presidents since 1959 have not cushioned
Rwanda from trouble. He says President Bizimungu's
resignation is not about ethnicity because there are
plenty of other Hutu in the ruling party.
One of those leaders, Patrick Mazimhaka, was not re-
appointed to the new cabinet. Nonetheless, he says
the move is not about a Tutsi elite consolidating
power. He says it is a normal change of government.
But nothing is normal about Rwandan politics. There
was no presidential election just a pre-genocide
power-sharing deal that gives Mr. Kagame's party the
right to name the head of state. Changing that deal
is one of the things that split Mr. Bizimungu from the
military. He did not want the inclusion of new
parties not originally named in the accord.
That change was approved. Andrew Bumaya from the new
Democratic Islamic Party now holds the post of Foreign
Affairs minister. Political observers say Mr.
Kagame's party wants to include more groups with whom
it can build a coalition before elections that may be
held in 2003.
Knowing they would lose a majority-rule vote, the
minority Tutsi are expected to come up with a plan for
some sort of proportional representation. If the
party does not make Mr. Kagame the new president when
it meets Saturday, he is almost certain to be their
candidate in the election. (SIGNED)
NEB/RP/GE/RAE
27-Mar-2000 08:13 AM EDT (27-Mar-2000 1313 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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