Parties speak out on results

The political parties that won seats in the just concluded parliamentary elections are satisfied with the results. The polls were swept by a coalition of parties led by the ruling RPF-Inkotanyi, which took 76 per cent of the vote, of the 53 seats that were up for grabs. Other parties that participated include the Social Democratic Party (PSD) which came second with 13 per cent, followed by the Liberal Party (PL) with 9 percent. The Liberal Party was satisfied with the slight increase in the percentage share, compared to the 2008 parliamentary elections. “We performed better than the last time and this might secure us a fifth seat. We are thankful to all Rwandans who voted for us, and the National Electoral Commission for the way they conducted the elections,” said party chief Protais Mitali. In the previous parliament, PL had four seats and throughout the campaigns that preceded the general elections, held on Monday, the party had said their objective was to double the number of seats. PSD, which secured the second place in the race for parliamentary seats, welcomed the results although the party leader, Dr Vincent Biruta, wished his party could have scored more. PSD had seven seats in the previous Parliament and having scored 13 per cent again, it retained the same number of legislators. “It looks we will retain the same seats we had in the previous parliament, we wished for more but we are happy with the way the whole election process went,” Biruta said. The landslide RPF, which was more visible on the ground during the three-week campaign period, registered a landslide victory but the party’s performance went slightly down compared to the 2008 percentages. In 2008, RPF had scored 78.8 per cent but the figure went down by 2.58 per cent in the just concluded elections. The decline in the percentage of RPF is attributed to mainly the increased number of participants in the 2013 parliamentary elections. Only three parties and one independent candidate took part in the 2008 elections while the 2013 elections saw four parties and four independent candidates taking part in the elections. The parties that contested alongside RPF include the Centrist Democratic Party (PDC), Parti du Progrès et la Concorde (PPC), Parti Socialiste Rwandais (PSR) and the Ideal Democratic Party (PDI). “We are happy with the outcome of the vote and looking at the figures, this is more like what we got in 2008. This proves that Rwandans believe in what we are doing and it encourages us to keep up the spirit,” said the Secretary General of RPF, Francois Ngarambe. In the previous parliament, the RPF and coalition had 42 seats. Another party that was in the race, PS-Imberakuri, failed to meet the necessary 5 per cent threshold required to send a representative to Parliament, after scoring a paltry 0.56 per cent. The party’s leader Christine Mukabunani, said she was going to consult senior party members, and collectively, they will come up with a way forward. “Right now I can’t make any comment,” said Mukabunani. All the four parties and the four independent candidates were contesting for the 53 seats, while the remaining 27 seats are allocated to the special interest groups of women (24), youth (2) and people living with disabilities (1). The final preliminary resulted will be announced today.