Rwandans vote to allow Kagame to run for another term
“While we commend the people of Rwanda for peacefully exercising their civic rights, we regret that the arrangements for the referendum failed to provide sufficient time and opportunity for political debate on the merits of the proposed provisions”.
Kagame, 58, is ineligible to run in 2017 because the Rwandan constitution limits a president to two terms. “But this is the provisional results from 21 districts which represents 70 percent of the 30 districts that voted”, National Electoral Commission chairman Kalisa Mbanda said in a televised announcement of the provisional results. He said Rwandans who voted to maintain term limits were 1.7 percent.
After 2024, if he wishes, Kagame could again seek another term, but this time not for seven but for five years, putting him hypothetically in power until 2029. The referendum [Telegraph report] will allow President Paul Kagame [offiical profile] to serve another seven-year term beginning in 2017 and then two more five-year terms. Asked at the polling station if he would stay on, he told reporters: “What is happening is the people’s choice”.
“The United States is disappointed that a referendum was called on short notice to amend the Rwandan constitution and introduce exceptions to term limits”.
The U.S. State Department has also condemned referendum, saying in September it did not support people in power changing a constitution purely for their own political interests, Reuters reported.
Kagame, who has said he will announce his candidature “any time”, joins a growing list of leaders in East and Central Africa who have prolonged their rule by changing the limits on presidential terms.
He has been president since 2000 but effectively in control since his rebel force marched into Kigali in 1994 to end a genocide.
“By doing so, President Kagame would establish a credible foundation for democracy in Rwanda, reinforce the substantial progress that has been achieved towards sustained peace and prosperity for all Rwandans, and set a laudable example not only for Rwanda, but for the region and the world”, Price said.
The tiny Democratic Green Party, the only real opposition party, tried to block the move in court but the case was rejected.