By Julie Peh
In Rwanda, voters are preparing to go to the polls this Monday, July 15, 2024 for the presidential and legislative elections, where President Paul Kagame, in power for 24 years, is running for re-election for a fourth term. Facing him are two candidates: Green Party MP Frank Habineza and independent Philippe Mpayimana.
But several critical voices of the regime were unable to participate in the elections by court order or because their candidacy was invalidated by the Electoral Commission. Among these voices was Victoire Ingabire, whose rehabilitation of civil rights was refused by the High Court last March.
“It is not up to the ruling party to choose who should face their candidate”
Today she calls for the opening of political space in Rwanda.
“Candidates who are well-placed to really challenge President Kagame have been banned,” she said to our correspondent Lucie Mouillaud. “So, I don’t really see how we’re going to have truly free, transparent elections. As long as there are limited candidates, we deprive the Rwandan people of choosing leaders freely and transparently. So, that’s why I say that we shouldn’t really limit those who should participate in elections as candidates. So, it’s not the party in power that should choose who should compete with their candidate. It’s the law, because we have the laws in Rwanda, and these laws should be accepted by everyone, including the party in power.”
She continues:
“What I want to say to President Kagame is to accept criticism because it is constructive criticism. We all want to participate in building our country and to prepare the best future for our young people, he must accept alternation through democratic means.”
Victoire Ingabire will not be able to run in the July 15 presidential election, following a court decision issued on March 13. A leading figure in the opposition to President Paul Kagame, the politician was stripped of her rights after being sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2013 for “conspiring against the authorities through terrorism and war” and “minimizing the 1994 genocide.”
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