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Parliament and Senate elections are just around the corner
The Rwandan Parliament is usually composed of 26 senators, including those elected in accordance with the provisions of the country’s constitution, and senators appointed by the President of the Republic in accordance with the provisions of the law, including senators elected by the National Conference of Political Parties and elected representatives of political science and other public and private universities and colleges.
The NEC said they were directly elected in a secret manner because they were not elected by the people as a whole but by a voting council elected by the people, whereas in the City of Kigali, all the members of the councils are elected by the people as a whole. The departmental elections have members in the Kigali City Council itself, in addition to the municipality.
Out of the 26 senators that make up the parliament, each province and city of Kigali has the number of senators that need to be elected, 12 senators will be elected, as in the South, East and West provinces each will elect 3 senators, in the North 2 senators will be elected, and the city of Kigali will elect 1.
The NEC said the figure was determined based on the number of people living in those provinces and was also linked to the number of voters.
In addition to the 12 members elected by the Kigali City Electoral Assembly and the Council Office, there are two representatives of public or private colleges and universities, elected by colleagues teaching or doing research in these colleges and universities, one from each side.
The remaining 12 members, 8 of whom are appointed by the President of the Republic in accordance with the powers granted by law, and 4 of whom are elected by the National Conference of Political Parties.
NEC Executive Secretary Charles Munyaneza said in an interview with the RBA on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, that the nominations of senators were progressing smoothly.
Charles Munyaneza said the nominations for senators for the September 16-17 elections were progressing smoothly.
“This is an exercise that did not start on July 30 and was supposed to end on August 6, but the NEC saw it as an exercise to add days and we could add days to submit nominations so that more people have a chance, especially because many people have asked us that they also have to seek documents to accompany their candidacy,” he said.
“We see that they are participating in an interesting way in submitting their candidate lists, and that is what we want because one of the characteristics of a good election is that there are many candidates in the election so that the voters have a wide range of choices to choose from,” Yungamo said. “That is why even those days were added so that those who want to call us should have the time and the opportunity to apply.”
The National Electoral Commission congratulates the people of Rwanda for their participation in the presidential and parliamentary elections and takes this opportunity to remind them that there is another important dimension of national governance that must be elected, as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda and other laws, namely the Senate.
Normally, Senators are the class with longer terms than all other classes, as the law stipulates that each term is eight years, but now there is no extension and the law stipulates that their term can be five years. It expires on October 13, 2024.
Elections to the Parliament and the Senate are scheduled for September 16, 2024. This decision was contained in the Decree of the President of the Republic of June 16, 2024.
The order states that campaigning for candidates for the Senate election will begin on Monday, August 26, 2024, and end on Saturday, September 14, 2024.
In its third article, the elections for the 12 senators chosen in accordance with the state constitution are scheduled to be held on Monday, September 16, 2024, while on Tuesday, September 17, one senator from a public higher education institution and one senator from a private university will be elected.
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