Rwanda’s parliamentary elections free, fair – AU observers

Rwanda’s parliamentary elections were free and fair, the AU Election Observation Mission said on Thursday.

The Mission Head, Aichatou Souleymane, told a news conference in the Rwandan capital, Kigali that the parliamentary elections were ‘peaceful, free and fair.’

Souleymane, who made the declaration at a news conference in the Rwandan capital Kigali, noted that the parliamentary elections were ‘peaceful, free and fair.’

The objective of the mission was to provide an accurate and impartial reporting or assessment of the quality of the September parliamentary elections.

These include the degree to which the conduct of the elections meets regional, continental and international standards.

The ruling party, Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) maintained its dominance in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, according to preliminary results released by the National Electoral Commission.

The RPF-led coalition, which also includes six smaller parties, garnered 40 seats out of 53 seats in the parliamentary polls.

The elections of the lower house use one single nationwide constituency, where 53 seats are directly elected by proportional representation.

The other 27 seats reserved for special interest groups, including women, the young and the disabled are elected indirectly.

More than seven million registered voters participated in the legislative elections that ran from Sept. 2 to Sept. 4, according to the electoral commission.