Rwanda’s new 80 Members of Parliament – also called Deputies – are set to swear in and elect a new Speaker on Wednesday, August 14. The MPs were elected during the legislative polls held in July. Article 66 of the constitution of Rwanda states that before assuming his or her duties, an MP takes an oath of office publicly before the President of the Republic or, in his absence, before the President of the Supreme Court. It also says that on the commencement of each parliamentary term of office, the first sitting of each Chamber is devoted to the election of the Bureau composed of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers of the Chamber of Deputies and the President and Vice Presidents of the Senate. This sitting is convened and presided over by the President of the Republic within a period of 30 days after the final announcement of election results of members of each Chamber of Parliament. Before assuming his or her duties, a member of the Bureau of each Chamber of Parliament takes the oath of office publicly before the President of the Republic. This implies that since the National Electoral Commission (NEC) published the final results of legislative elections – for members of the Chamber of Deputies – on July 22, their swearing-in, along with the first sitting of the Lower House in which its Speaker and other members of its Bureau must be elected, by August 22. ALSO READ: NEC announces 24 MPs to represent women in Parliament On June 14, President Paul Kagame dissolved the fourth Chamber of Deputies – of which Donatille Mukabalisa, from the Liberal Party (PL), was the Speaker – for the purposes of elections of new lawmakers to form the fifth legislature that will assume its duties after the swearing-in ceremony. Thr final results for the parliamentary elections showed that the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) coalition garnered 68.8 per cent of the more than 8.9 million valid votes, securing 37 seats (corresponding to 37 MPs) out of 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies elected by direct suffrage (general election). The coalition consists of RPF and five other parties – the Centrist Democratic Party (PDC), Party for Democracy and Concord (PPC), Rwandese Labor Party (PSR), Prosperity and Solidarity Party (PSP), Democratic Union of Rwandan Peoples (UDPR). The Liberal Party (PL) got 8.66 per cent, earning 5 seats in parliament. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) also got 8.62 per cent, and five seats out of the 53. The Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, Ideal Democratic Party (PDI), and PS-Imberakuri got two seats each, after securing about 5 per cent of the votes, respectively. The MPs who are taking oath also include 24 who will represent women, two for the youth, and one for persons with disabilities. The 24 female MPs to represent women in Parliament represent 30 per cent of the 80 lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies.
