Ideal Democratic Party (PDI) leaders, on May 22, submitted a list of 55 candidates, 32 men and 23 women, for the July parliamentary elections, to the National Electoral Commission.

The Second Vice President of PDI, Fatou Harerimana, told journalists that "it is the first time PDI has fielded parliamentary candidates alone, outside the coalition with the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi)."

"After 30 years of good governance in the country [after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi], we empowered ourselves," she said.

She reiterated PDI's position to endorse Paul Kagame, the RPF presidential candidate in the upcoming polls, pointing out that he is the right choice, as a dedicated leader that deserves to continue steering the country forward.

On April 28, the PDI congress had approved a list of 71 candidates to vie for seats as members of parliament in the chamber of deputies, the lower house. On Wednesday, Harerimana said that some did not make it to the list submitted to NEC due to reasons including not fulfilling requirements as set by the party.

"Now, thanks to good governance of our country, we have PDI candidates who completed universities, we have PhD holders and others with master's degrees, women and youth. And we realise that all that presents opportunity for us to make a step to campaign alone. We hope, because we are a country that is well governed, our citizens can make good choices," she said.

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Currently, she said, PDI has two lawmakers in the lower house. These include the Deputy Speaker in charge of Finance and Administration, Sheikh Mussa Fazil Harerimana, who is also the party chairperson.

Since the National Transitional Assembly that was established in the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and ran until 2003, PDI has been represented by two MPs, she indicated.

"We hope that we can exceed the two [MPs]," Harerimana said.