The Social Democratic Party (PSD) has approved a list of 67 candidates for July parliamentary elections. ALSO READ: PSD party endorses Kagame as presidential candidate The list was unveiled during a Political Bureau meeting led by Vincent Biruta, the political party’s president, on Sunday May 19. Biruta said that they also discussed priorities to be pushed during the electoral campaign. “The party has contributed a lot during the country’s journey of reconstruction in the last 30 years including fighting discrimination and divisionism among Rwandans. We are also identifying our priorities under our manifesto in the next five years which our representatives have to push in their positions so that the population is aware,” he said. ALSO READ: Explainer: What are the requirements for presidential candidates? The electoral commission started receiving candidatures for the presidency and parliamentary seats from Friday, May 17 until May 30. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) announced on March 24, that it will endorse incumbent President Paul Kagame, who will be the flagbearer of the RPF-Inkotanyi in the July presidential elections. ALSO READ: Presidential aspirants warned against forging endorsement signatures “We have decided to endorse His Excellency Paul Kagame as a candidate for president due to the achievements recorded during the time he has led the country,” PSD president Vincent Biruta told the media. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi), and Liberal Party (PL), on May 17, submitted, separately, lists of candidates that they want to represent them in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Liberal Party (PL) submitted a list of 54 candidates — including 28 males and 26 females — to represent it in parliamentary elections. The deadline for submitting candidatures is May 30. The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has so far received 28 individual candidatures of parliamentary aspirants. The campaign period for political parties and independent candidates will begin on June 22 and close on July 13. Rwandans will go to the polls on July 14 and 16. For Rwandans abroad, voting for the president and 53 members of parliament will take place on July 14. More than 9.5 million Rwandans have registered to vote in the 2024 joint presidential and parliamentary elections and about 2 million of them are first-time voters, according to the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
