Rwanda’s ruling party in primaries ahead of parliamentary elections in September
Rwanda’s ruling party Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) on Saturday continued party primaries for parliamentary elections due in September, with four contenders being elected in each district.
Voters in each district elected four people from the 20 candidates who were selected at cell levels, the party explained in a tweet. In every district, four contenders include two women and two men, it said.
A voter in Kigali’s Gasabo district told Xinhua that she considered candidates they trusted to work toward improvement of people’s welfare, maintain unity, democracy and country’s development.
Some 1500 party representatives from across Gasabo district in participated in the Saturday’s election, according to the party.
The final list that the RPF will submit to the electoral body National Electoral Commission will has 80 candidates, according to the ruling party.
The central African country is set to hold parliamentary elections from Sept. 2 to 4 to elect all the 80 members of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, for a five-year term, according to the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
The elections of the lower house use one single nationwide constituency, where 53 seats will be directly elected by proportional representation. The other 27 seats reserved for special interest groups including women, the young and the disabled will be elected indirectly.
The application for the candidature of this year’s parliamentary elections will be received from July 12 to 25, and the confirmed candidates will be announced on Aug. 6. The electoral campaigns will be held between Aug. 13 and Sept. 1, according to NEC.
