Referendum calm and organised – observers

Observers accredited to witness yesterday’s national referendum exercise have hailed the stability and organisation under which it was held. The Head of the European Union Delegation to Rwanda, Michael Ryan, after visiting several polling stations in Kigali and comparing notes with other foreign diplomatic missions in the country, lauded the exercise as “calm and well-organised.” Ryan, who was speaking to journalists shortly after the closing of the electoral process, said: “I and my colleagues – members of the diplomatic corps that I managed to talk to—have observed, that the referendum has taken place in a calm, orderly and well-organised way. That is what we have seen.” “From what I understand, registers did not have any problem and division polling station assistants were very much welcoming.” The National Electoral Commission (NEC) indicated that 620 election observers that also included civil society groups, the political parties’ forum, National Human Rights Commission, and the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) monitored the proceedings. Edouard Munyamaliza, the spokesperson of Rwanda Civil Society Platform (RCSP), echoed Ryan’s comment, saying the referendum was peaceful and no unusual incidents were reported. “We will discuss our preliminary findings tomorrow (today). So far, so good, we are satisfied with the process,” Munyamaliza told Saturday Times. Munyamaliza said RCSP deployed more than 500 observers all over the country. However, EU’s Ryan reiterated their recent concerns that the timeframe given for the referendum was not enough to allow everyone to fully participate. He said regardless of the calm and orderly manner by which the referendum was organised, EU still had concerns about the little time between the announcing and holding of the referendum, which he said did not present adequate time for inclusive debate about the constitutional review. “The short time between the announcement and the holding of the referendum left little or no opportunity for all parties to present their arguments, despite government assurances that time would be allocated for an open exchange of opinions,” a joint statement by European Union Heads of Mission reads in part. MPs earlier in the week challenged this argument, saying Rwandans were fully aware of the process and what they needed from it. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Referendum calm and organised – observers