2003 presidential election in Rwanda
The 2003 presidential election in Rwanda took place on August 25, 2003. These were the first elections in Rwanda after the Rwandan civil war in 1990-1993 and the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. The incumbent President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame , won with a good 95% of the vote.
The Norwegian Institute for Human Rights (NORDEM) certified that the election process “did not make Rwandans feel that they have a choice”. Also, "the respect for the secrecy of the election and the freedom of choice of those entitled to vote was often not given". Although the elections did not meet international standards, the election observers apologized at the same time as the extreme conditions following the genocide in Rwanda .
background
Although Rwanda was formally a multi-party democracy since 1991 , the elections were held on the condition that the ruling party Rwanda Patriotic Front and its candidate Paul Kagame dominated. The 2003 Constitution, the electoral laws and, in particular, the law against “divisionism” led to an atmosphere of restricted freedom of expression in the run-up to the elections. The background to the above-mentioned laws was the experience of the genocide in the 1990s, which killed around 800,000 people. The electoral law forbade z. B. parties that acted on an ethnic , religious or other “divisionist” (ie exclusionary) basis that could lead to discrimination. Under the conditions prevailing in Rwanda such as For example, the ban on the then largest opposition party, Mouvement républicain national pour la démocratie et le développement , which was deeply involved in the genocide, and the ruling party's strong control over the media, the anti-discrimination laws created a situation in which all dissenting opinions could easily be denigrated as "divisionist".
Results
| Candidate - party | be right | % |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Kagame - Rwandan Patriotic Front ( Front patriotique rwandais ) | 3,544,777 | 95.1 |
| Faustin Twagiramungu Independent Candidate | 134 865 | 3.6 |
| Jean-Népomuscène Nayinzira Independent candidate | 49 634 | 1.3 |
| Total valid votes | 3 729 276 | 100.0 |
| Invalid votes | 83 291 | |
| Total votes cast | 3 812 567 | |
| Total registered voters | 3,948,749 | |
| voter turnout | 96.6% | |
| Source: National Electoral Commission of Rwanda according to africanelections.tripod.com | ||
swell
- ↑ http://www.cmi.no/publications/file/1770-rwanda-presidential-and-parliamentary-elections , pdf, p.42, p. 44.
- ↑ http://www.cmi.no/publications/file/1770-rwanda-presidential-and-parliamentary-elections.pdf Final report of the election observers from NORDEM, page 10 u. a.
- ↑ [1]
