Despite having no legislator in the current parliament, PS – Imberakuri, one of the political organisations in the country, believes they are prepared enough to garner the necessary votes to warrant them parliamentary seats in the September polls. Any contestant in the polls must garner at least five per cent of the national vote to be guaranteed a seat in the next parliament, as per regulations set out by the National Electoral Commission (NEC). The party chairperson, Christine Mukabunani, told The New Times this week that they are ready to run for parliament and are now working on a manifesto and mobilising the public, especially their members, to get ready to vote for them. “We are in preparations and are now working on the manifesto by gathering ideas to ensure we sell a political programme that we can sell to the electorate,” she said stressing that their manifesto will reflect social welfare of citizens. “We strongly believe we will win some seats and are trying to mobilise, right from the village level working with our members; our plan is to submit to the electoral commission a list of at least 80 candidates,” she said. PS Imberakuri was created in 2009 and competed in 2013 parliamentary elections but won no single seat in Parliament. The party has over 20,000 members but, according to Mukabunani, there is hope that more other voters will get inspired by the manifesto and vote for them this time around. Parties and independents will contest for 53 seats through universal adult suffrage, while 27 others will join parliament through electoral colleges for special interest groups. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
