Edwin Musoni
22 September 2008
Nyarugenge — The Civil Society Elections Observers Mission (CSEOM) has praised the state and the National Electoral Commission (NEC) on how election campaigns and the polling exercise were conducted in the country.
SCEOM added its voice in commending the stakeholders during a press conference held Friday at Serena Hotel. The Chief Observer of the CSEOM, Eugene Rwibasira, said that the just concluded elections were conducted in a calm manner.
"The elections showed how well the country has developed its electoral framework," he said. He added that polling on the day of direct elections unfolded in an atmosphere of calm and sound organization and that the polls demonstrated NEC's impressive organizational capacity.
Rwibasira said that there was no significant incident that disorganized the 20 days of campaigning and that the RPF and Coalition had significantly more campaigning resources than its competitors who were not as visible as RPF. Part of the report says that RPF campaigns scientifically outsized both PL and PSD by more and bigger rallies.
The preliminary report of CSEOM highlighted a few inconsistencies and called for emphasis in increasing the number of youths and disabled representatives in the Parliament.
Among other recommendations in the preliminary report, the CSEOM reads in part that; "while the promotion of representation of all members of the civil society is positive and should be maintained, consideration could be made more of these reserved seats being chosen through direct elections."
The report also commended the systems NEC used in the whole process of elections, indicating that voters' registration was carried out in an efficient manner.
CSEOM also pointed out some significant improvements in the just concluded elections.
"These elections allowed former genocide convicts who were in category three to participate in elections for the first time in a change consistent with the principle of universal suffrage," said Rwibasira.
The report also indicates that there have not been any official complaints so far and that the legal framework for the electoral complaints is generally adequate.
CSEOM revealed that there was no evidence of abuse of state resources while campaining.
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