Can Rwanda's elections be fair?

In 1994, the World watched Rwanda violates its own citizens, many warned that a genocide was being prepared but no appropriate action was taken to defend innocent lives.

Since then, Rwandans have shown resilience which most Nations would struggle to achieve if they had faced similar tragedy.I heard from many sources, Rwandans say "We want to rebuild our Country, those old hate ideologies are not our own, we will re-define our destiny as Rwandans."

I am confident Rwanda is on the right path, fair elections will be delivered.

Of course they will be free and fair. Or didn't you get the memo? All elections in Africa are free and fair. Dearly departed notwithstanding!

Without a single doubt, the election process in Rwanda is and will be absolutely credible. They have so far followed the due process expected in a free and fair election. However, the fact is that President Kagame is by far the most popular leader, so all the pretenders to the throne feel that they better concentrate on other activities given that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for them to unseat the incumbent. Kagame has made Rwanda the best gorverned country in Africa despite their meagre resources.

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Yes, They can. It s sad that our foreign policy is run by BBC/HRW...I actually think that there are going to be fair elections because the opposition doesn't exist. Those people don't know what it means to be in opposition or what responsability you must have. Today I don't know if that country has someone else who is powerful as Gen Kagame is, because U can't govern that country easly.

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My biggest question is why people are even bothering to ask: 'will the rwandan elections be fair?'
of course they wont.
For starters the real opposition has been prevented from competing- that is already NOT FAIR so to what extent are the elections fair at this point?? answer: to NO extent.

Furthermore, out of all the parties that have been registered only one [FPR] has enough funds to launch a campaign all the others are apparently looking at taking a loan to finance their campaign- hence the elections are not fair due to unequal funding. The organisers of the elections are memebers of Kagame's party FPR and thus really to what extent are the elections fair? answer is: NONE they are 99.9% likely to be bias and rigged.
coming back to my point about the registered parties: for the past 7 years they have failed to criticise Kagame's FPR party hence illustrating the fact that they are satelite FPR parties who are willing to dance to the music played by Kagame and the FPR and therefore making them sub-FPR rather than independent parties. What is the point of calling yourself 'opposition' party while you have no objection to the 'current' regime? Essentially the August elections in rwanda are only being competed in by FPR-Kagame.

Finally, UK should not have bothered sending election observers- not only is it a waste of money it is propagandist tool to fool the international community that elections will be occuring in rwanda when actually fraud will be occuring in rwanda. UK is in debt yet the coalition government as well as the labour government spend excessive amounts of money on rwanda only to broaden the pockets of those in power because the poor have remained poor.

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Absolutely not! Rwandans life in fear of opposing Kagame. No legitimate, powerful candidate is allowed to exist. There is no freedom of the press. How can people choose when they are fed what the government wants them to hear?
While many Rwandans appreciate the economic recovery, they are tired of fear and repression and would escape if they could.
Even those in the government aligned with Kagame fear greatly. The thought of a fair election is totally preposterous.

I am hopeful that the people in Rwanda, will be able to hold and complete the elections in a free and fair fashion.

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I hardly see how Rwandan next elections can be called free and fair. Elections should normally be regarded as a process, it is much more than casting one's vote on the polling day. Given the pre-electoral saga, the democratic process in Rwanda has already been seriously compromised and the legitimacy of President Paul Kagame after the August 9th, 2010 would be questionable. None of the major contenders who expressed their intention to run for the office of president are allowed to participate in the electoral process, how on earth can one cal this elections free. Journalists, political activists and members of the civil society have systematically harassed and persecuted to silence theme because they are expressing views which are not supportive of the current regime in Kigali. Rwandans still have a long way to go as far as democracy is concerned and the fact that they are going to elect their president for the second time in their history is not going to change anything about that. If the freedom of expression can not be guaranteed, there is no need of wasting time and money for an orchestrated operation which aims to allow one man to remain in power.

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LIKELY IT MAY BE. BUT I`M DOUDTING.

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Yes, Rwanda will have free and fair elections and both Kagame and the RPF should be commended for a job well done! If the past is of any guide we should stay away from reminding Rwandans of the bad memories; they deserve our respect.

The track record from the past and recent elections conducted in countries with sitting governments led by former "Revolutionaries" as Kagame, appears to have disappointed the population of those countries. so,the results have been predictable and the process has been filled with tormoil, arrests and disappearances of the opposition groups. I can only hope it becomes less of everything that is negative so the average man/woman will breath easier. Thanks

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Rwandans in the top government echelon) bend on promoting freedom, fairness, democracy and compassion, Kagame’s ENIGMATIC smile is cause for concern. Rwandans can’t exercise any degree of free speech leave alone speaking to each other on streets, as this will warrant an arrest.

KABENGE SWALEH

The question you ask about fair election in Rwanda is so subjective.... How many candidates are competing? Isn't clear already who will be the next president in Rwanda before the election, with only that aspect the fairness of all the process will be questionable....We have a president who has been working hard to put rules in place and create hope among the Rwandans. Now his face has been changing by him not accepting a strong opposition in the country and you all know what has been going on in the recent past. Unfortunately most people are afraid and this will characterize the nature of the election in August.....

I cant concur more with Mr. Sebarenzi, these are not elections rather an opportunity for RPF and Kagame to hoodwink the donor WEST that indeed "democracy" abounds in Rwanda.

First, 2 critical newspapers to the Kagame goverment were recently shutdown for six months (probably they will be reinstanted after the so called election).

Secondly members of the opposition who have dared criticize RPF or Kagame have been harrassed, detained, and yes some have lost their lives at the hands of unknown assailants, and the government has been so mart to come up with 'not-government-affiliated-suspects' in the two fatal cases to cover up their traits.

Thirdly, despite meeting all the constitutional requirements, 2 opposition parties have been denied registration to participate in the "elections"; Green Party and Inkingi FDU.

And it's no coincedence that the Rwandan constitution bans any political activity such as campaigns and mobilization until afew weeks to "election" day. In this case, there havent been any public debates of issues of national concern prior to the august event, and apart from Kagame, who enjoys a great deal of name recognition and unlimited government machinery, other candidates are just "wasting" their time campaigning because it's practically impossible to cover the whole country, and issues in just less than a month.

In addition, with all the unlimited resources and control over the country's media, it's Kagame and RPF's message that's swallowing up all the airwaves and newspaper spots.

So yeah, Kagame can claim the fairness and freedom but the reality is the exact opposite

Rwanda, need a leader who have a vision and strategy to stand for the country and see that the country people and life have the fundamental need like education, health, housing with needed life to stand sustained with correct competitive income, retirement income, investment income, emergency income with correct entertainment for a family to have ideal family love which will be like a fundamental right for every life in Rwanda with the emphasize on green nature and stand friendly with region and world. So the Leader of the country need to stand for the people and see that all the people are above the economical level of truth as mentioned above and have a future growth and development to stand equally with recognition with world and have a right of say as a nation in World forum like UN, NATO, IMF. So the leader of the Rwanda need to be a person of this truth to stand for the people of Rwanda.

Rwanda has been in political turmoil for too long.Please Kagame resign for the sake of peace for somebody else to take over.Stop the molestation of opposition leaders.

Why is the government of M. Kagame wasting funds on so-called elections.
Better give 99.999% to Paul Kagame and everything is done. I find it very unfair to the people of Rwanda that deserve the chance to freely choose their leader, be it P. Kagame.
Any way ruling parties don't just loose elections in many African countries, why?

The growth of democracy takes time

Rwanda is under serious scrutiny due to the upcoming presidential elections, it is criticised for not having democracy in the western mould as if democracy is something you can wish into existence. One cannot judge a nation’s democracy by a presidential election alone, one must look at all levels of government and the society itself. It is as if the critics want a democracy imposed from the top-down and from outside. That concept has never worked in any country in history, there has to be a growth of democratic principles from a grassroots level upwards, otherwise it is like dragging a cow to river because you cannot force it to drink.

When one looks at Rwanda, it is more democratic than people give it credit for, many decisions affecting people’s lives have been devolved to lower levels of government. Local and regional government leaders are held to account for their decisions and given targets by their voters, they also sign performance contracts. In the recent parliamentary elections, women, independents, and minor parties got an equitable share of the vote in what were seen as free and fair elections. However, the presidential elections have been seen in a different light because the western media wants to see a traditional western-style election.

We will eventually see the democracy at local and regional level percolate upwards to the highest level of government, but this requires ordinary Rwandans to educated in democratic principles. Democracy is not just a concept for politics exclusively, it is a way of life, fathers must listen to their children, mothers as well, neighbours must learn to express themselves in a democratic and consensual way. I was on a committee choosing campaigns songs, and I loved this particular song with a beautiful melody, then I heard the lyrics towards the end saying “If you don’t vote for this party, then you hate Rwanda.” The musician who composed the song had no idea about democratic values.

A president cannot impose democratic values on an undemocratic society, neither can a president stop true democratic values developing in a society that really believes in them. When Paul Kagame said it is not his job to create an opposition, he was right, he cannot copy Mobutu. When Mobutu was accused of running a one-party state he went and created some 300 parties and fragmented the Kinshasa.

All the unregistered parties are blocked in an entirely constitutional way, therefore the critics should look to the constitution which has strict limits on the type of party, candidate and system Rwandans can vote for. A party like FDU-Inkingi is not based on policy but agitation. Their policy on health is “Free healthcare for all Rwandans” without even mentioning how they will pay for free health for 11 million people, or even what level of healthcare they can expect. We need serious development of political parties, political thinking and politicians. Without the option of tribal politics and agitation, there is little that unregistered opposition parties can offer.

I dont think that theyc will even be near fair because in africa we are used to leadership untill death.

I'm afraid whether or not the elections are fair is largely irrelevant to the prosperity of the country. The opposition (or what is left of it)has shown little willingness to continue to use money received from foreign aid to ameliorate the infrastructure of Rwanda in the way that Gen. Kagame has. What other leader in Africa would use direct governmental aid to produce such an excellent and efficient road system and guarantee laptops to all school children. Yes currently the majority of Rwandans are mired by poverty and illiteracy, but Kagame is a man for the future and it is through his path, a path which follows other economic autocratic success stories such as Singapore and China, which is the path out of poverty and illiteracy. The result of the election may not be achieved through fair and free means, but if it is the correct result, the international community have no cause to interfere. Especially the meddlesome human rights groups. Presumably they would rather see an elected leader embezzle and foreign direct aid, Mobutu Sese Seko style?

Maybe the question shouldn't be can they be fair, but should they be fair...? I'm not promoting dictatorship, or any other form of supression for that matter, but perhaps the county is better off with a stable government that actually isn't doing so bad.

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i'm a young Rwandan looking forward to voting for my president for the first time - and i have no doubt the elections will be free and fair! the atmosphere is exciting here, the rallies are going on without any trouble, violence or political nastiness. I'm glad that the parties that eventually fielded candidates were the ones with clean records that met the clear criteria - i think that is normal standards, and none of the people i know or have talked to can see the fuss foreign media and groups are making. it doesnt bother us.
I cant wait to cast my vote - i live in peace, in my community kids are going to school, our economic opportunities are improving, we access health care easily, Kigali is becoming an impressive modern city, and the other towns are developing very fast - u can get the internet anywhere. we're friends with DRC and the rest of our neighbours. we're even friends with France again! I'm voting for Paul Kagame for sure - life is good.

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Rwanda under president Kagame has indeed grown.i think any law abiding being would love to live in Rwanda and i think the elctions will be fair.We all need to be fair to the election process to succeed in the August elections.

The west loves corrupt dictators. Alex weir. Harare

Tutu said" Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pinochet, Milosovic, and Idi Amin were all powerful, but in the end they bit the dust"Kagame will too.
Because, the real opposition parties are not on ballot, what kind of vote is that?

I believe that Rwanda will hold fair elections. The people of Rwanda have done much more than anyone could have expected of them given the circumstances and I am sure holding a fair election is a piece of cake compared to the monumental problems the country has managed to take on in the last 16 years.

A fair election is first and foremost in the interests of Rwanda and not the outside world and I am sure this is the reason the country is holding them in the first place. Rwandans are well aware that anything less than a free and fair election will be akin to shooting themselves in the foot and wasting a lot of energy and resources that have gone into rebuilding that country in the last decade or so. And so really,I don't see what service any Rwandan politician or citizen would be doing his/her country or himself/herself by engaging in election rigging activities.

Friends, rebuilding Rwanda is hard work; it is sweat and blood. I don't see why anyone would steal an election for that.

Long Live Rwanda and her people!

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The election in Rwanda will be fair according to the ruling gov't and its allies. Today in Africa we do not have true and transparent democracy but many elections have been said to have been democratic in theory but not in practice. Most African leaders are power hungry and they only organise elections to blindfold the world but results of such elections are predetermined by them.
The electoral commission and the Judicary are not independent to deal with election related issues because they are perpets or "toolboys" of the ruling gov't, the press is restricted, freedom of speech and expression denied, torture and arrest of opposition groups etc.
THERE IS NO FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS IN AFRICA IN PRACTICE BUT ONLY IN PRINCIPLE

Ruanda' s elections will be fair or not fair according to whether or not an observer is objective.
There are those who have been trained /instructed / conditioned to see no wrong and to embrace any Kagame idea, iniative or saying - to them certainly the elections will be fair.
For those who want to be a bit objective it is worth the while to exaimine to a small extent Paul Kagames background in Uganda. Aware that he actively participated in bringing about change in Uganda, and participated in government there before marching to Ruanda, it is partinent to examine how elections have been conducted in Uganda considering the violence, rigging petions and court judgments. A lot of similarities can be observed by any casual onlooker.
Key principles: One perpetual leader by hook or crook; manipulate and change constitution to suit strong man interests, do not tolerate opposition unless they are opportunistic psycophants, employ strong PR tactics for managing international relationships for positive person and national image. Is there any of these attributes missing?
This can hardly be expected to lead to a fair electin with such considerations.

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