Politics of Rwanda

Rwanda gained its independence on July 1, 1962. Politics of Rwanda reflects Belgian and German civil law systems and customary law takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Rwanda is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government.

Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. On 5 May 1995, the Transitional National Assembly adopted a new constitution which included elements of the constitution of 18 June 1991 as well as provisions of the 1993 Arusha peace accord and the November 1994 multiparty protocol of understanding.

Rwanda has a National Assembly, with 80 members. 53 of them are directly elected and 27 are indirectly elected by representatives of special interest groups. The Senate has 24 members in which 16 are indirectly elected and eight appointed by the president.

After its military victory in July 1994, the Rwandese Patriotic Front organized a coalition government similar to that established by President Juvénal Habyarimana in 1992. Called The Broad Based Government of National Unity, its fundamental law is based on a combination of the constitution, the Arusha accords, and political declarations by the parties. The MRND party was outlawed.

Political organizing was banned until 2003. The first post-war presidential and legislative elections were held in August and September 2003, respectively.

The biggest problems facing the government were the reintegration of more than 2 million refugees returning from as long ago as 1959; the end of the insurgency and counter-insurgency among ex-military and Interahamwe militia and the Rwandan Patriotic Army, which is concentrated in the north and south west; and the shift away from crisis to medium- and long-term development planning. The prison population will continue to be an urgent problem for the foreseeable future, having swelled to more than 100,000 in the 3 years after the war. Trying this many suspects of genocide will tax Rwanda's resources sorely.

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