A one-sided election

The parliamentary elections were unconvincing but a bit better than the last ones

Facing no opposition, the Front Patriotique Rwandais (FPR) won an unsurprising landslide in the parliamentary elections on 15 September, the second since the 1994 genocide. The European Union’s Observer Mission duly noted the ‘absence of a real political opposition’ and the lack of diverse opinions. The sole independent candidate, Jean-Marie Vianney Harelimana, did not campaign much and the FPR dominated its coalition with half a dozen tiny parties, plus two others that are already in the government – the Parti Sociale Démocrate (PSD) and the Parti Libéral (PL).

Article Tags:
Jean-Marie Vianney Harelimana, France, Belgium, Germany, Britain, Netherlands, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Congo-Kinshasa, Paul Kagame, Spanish, Juvénal Habyarimana, Emmanuel, Karake Karenzi, Tanzania, India, Front Patriotique Rwandais, Parti Sociale Démocrate, Parti Libéral, gacaca, Le Soir

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