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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

RWANDA: Elections to be held in August and September

NAIROBI, 28 May 2003 (IRIN) - Rwandan president Paul Kagame said on Tuesday that presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in August and September respectively, the Rwanda News Agency (RNA) reported.

The announcement followed the release of results from Monday's referendum on a draft constitution, which showed that 93 percent of voters approved it.

RNA quoted Kagame as saying it was no surprise that the population had voted massively in favour of the constitution, as it contained their own views.

The new constitution aims to prevent a repeat of the 1994 genocide, in which some 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus died, by preventing any one political party from assuming dominance, and by banning the incitement of ethnic hatred.

The New York-based human rights group, Human Rights Watch (HRW), has criticised the constitution, saying that it includes significant powers to curtail civil rights, and that it favours Kagame's party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the most powerful party in the country, because it effectively bans political campaigning at grassroots level.

According to RNA, two candidates, Jean Nepomucere Nayinzira of the Parti democratique chretien, and former prime minister Augustin Twagiramungu, who lives in exile, have declared their intention to contest the presidency.

Twagiramungu's party, the Mouvement democratique republicain (MDR), was recently banned after it was accused in a parliamentary report of pursuing a "divisive ideology". HRW accused the RPF of seeking to stifle opposition in the run up to elections, an accusation that has been dismissed by Rwandan officials.

The RPF has said its presidential candidate will be nominated on 14 June during the party's congress, RNA reported.

Themes: (IRIN) Governance

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