Elections: Outgrowing the past

On September 15, Rwandans will be casting their votes in an exercise of choosing their representatives in the lower chamber of parliament; the house of deputies. The process which will be done through adult suffrage is yet again a milestone in the history of our country. It will be recalled that this is the second time Rwandans go to vote into office their own representatives that will consequently be speaking and legislating on behalf of the citizens. This is the second time we are electing MP’s since the current administration came to power. What is obvious is that there is a commitment towards creating a democratic culture, whereby the leadership is answerable to the people. Gone are the days when the leaders had no obligation to the people they purported to serve. The current government/administration has shown a commitment towards empowering the people not only by guaranteeing their rights to vote, something that was denied them in the past, but also giving hitherto marginalized groups a major say in the governance of the country. When one takes a look at the list of the current parliamentary candidates, one gets the impression that many women are likely to make it into the house. Women made up a big percentage of representation in the outgoing parliament. It is possible that they will even do better now. This, in my view is a result of the realization that affirmative action can go a long way in bettering the prospects of many categories of people as has been seen in Rwanda. Without women emancipation, few would have come to realize their potentialities. Now that has been made possible in post genocide Rwanda. The commitment towards such noble goals like a democratic culture and women emancipation can be traced to the history of the struggle that brought the current political order into being. Women are known to have been at the fore front of the political and military mobilization in the days of the struggle in the late eighties and early nineties. Moreover, we realize that the process here is not just a case of simply going through the motions of elections but it is a commitment towards the promotion of that culture of democracy. The presence of many election observers either from outside or and our own members of the civil society in Rwanda is a testament to the fact that the Electoral Commission is committed to a credible election process. Rwanda’s civil society is playing a leading role in observing the democratic process. This tells us that many in Rwanda, who are non-state actors, have come to the fore front in the process of building our young democracy. Thus under an umbrella platform, many members of the civil society have been actively working as observers during the different stages of the campaigns. There has been a case of a civil society organization known as LIPRODHOR that failed to get accreditation because it opted out of the umbrella platform of civil society organizations that are working as observers. As a result, Human Rights Watch and Dutch MP’s are reported to have asked questions about its fate. The head of the National Electoral Commission Prof. Karangwa called upon the organization to get under the umbrella platform. That would enable them to play their role as observers. But apparently due to the fact that they were unwilling to observe the rules in the first place, they may have a minimal role or no role to play as the election campaigns are already mid way and may not be able to be at par with the rest who are organized under the platform. There are definitely going to be challenges in this process. But that has to be expected, in any budding democracy. Many, especially foreigners have at different points in the electioneering process come out to give opinions. And as expected, a number of these opinions are divergent. That tells us that, some of those who have come out to critique the process may not necessarily understand the context, in which Rwanda seeks to build its democratic institutions. As a post conflict country, the need to ensure social harmony and unity is always paramount. For those who seek to study and make a comparative analysis of the democratic process in Rwanda, they have to have that basic history in mind. That would help them to analyze the situation in Rwanda, in the proper and well informed perspective. Contact: frank2kagabo@yahoo.com