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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

RWANDA: Ruling party wins landslide in legislative polls

KIGALI, 2 October 2003 (IRIN) - The ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) won a landslide victory in the country's first multiparty parliamentary polls since the1994 genocide, the chairman of the National Electoral Commission, Chrysologue Karangwa, said on Wednesday.

He told reporters that the RPF won 73.78 percent of the total votes cast in Tuesday polls, while the Social Democratic Party won 12.31 percent and the Liberal Party 10.56 percent. None of the 16 independent parliamentary candidates won seats.

"These are only provisional results as stated in the law. The final results will be announced by the Supreme Court," the Rwanda News Agency (RNA) quoted Karangwa as saying.

The elections, which follow the presidential poll that Paul Kagame won in a landslide, and the adoption by referendum of the new constitution in May, marks the end of nine years of transitional government in Rwanda.

Voter turnout was 99.48 percent, despite fears of voter fatigue, the RNA reported.

On Tuesday, Rwandans voted for 53 of the 80 seats in the lower house, the National Assembly. Three seats for special groups were decided on Monday and the remainder, reserved for women's associations, will be elected on Thursday. The executive committees of the local authorities will vote for members of the Senate, which is the upper house, on Thursday.

European Union observers said on Tuesday that opposition candidates had been intimidated in the run-up to voting. Similar charges were voiced during the presidential elections.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Governance

[ENDS]

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