The Social Democratic Party (PSD) has said it will campaign for an increase of members of parliament from the current 80 seats to a number that matches Rwanda's 13.2 million people.
Speaking to the reporters on Sunday, March 24, during PSD National Congress, party president Vincent Biruta said 80 seats were set based on the number of people an MP in the Chamber of Deputies represented and that the number needs to be updated.
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The first legislature after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was elected in 2003, when the country's population was eight million. That meant that each MP represents 100,000 people.
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Biruta said PSD will front candidates for parliamentary seats. For president, the party said it would endorse incumbent President Paul Kagame, who will be the flagbearer of RPF-Inkotanyi.
"One of the issues we will raise during the campaigning for our list of candidates for members of parliament is the need to increase the number of MPs and senators," Biruta said.
"Our idea is not to have more parliamentarians in the upcoming term, but the issue should be considered so that in the next term the number of MPs is proportionate to the number of people they represent."
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Parliamentarians are elected for a five-year term renewable once. Rwanda has a bicameral house. The Chamber of Deputies has 80 seats, while the Senate has 26 seats.
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In the Chamber of Deputies, 53 MPs are elected in universal suffrage, 24 are female MPs who are elected by specific councils. Two MPs are elected by the National Youth Council and one is elected by the federation of the Association of People with Disabilities.
In the Senate, 12 senators are elected by the specific councils, eight are appointed by the President of the Republic.
Four senators are designated by the Forum of Political Organisations, one is elected among lecturers and researchers of public universities and higher learning institutions, while another one is elected from lecturers and researchers of private universities and higher learning institutions.
The current legislature, which began its term in 2018, is the fourth Rwanda has had since 2003. It was initially supposed to end in 2023 but due to constitutional review made to harmonise parliamentary and presidential elections, the term will end in 2024.
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Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for July 14-16, according to the calendar released by the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
NEC will start receiving candidacies for the presidency and members of parliament from May 17-30.
The campaign period will begin on June 22 and close on July 13 before voting gets underway from July 14 to 16.
The provisional results of the elections will be announced on July 20, while the final results will be announced on July 27.
