{"id":36096,"date":"2023-02-20T10:10:01","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T10:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/political-parties-civil-society-welcome-proposal-to-harmonise-elections-2"},"modified":"2023-02-20T10:26:55","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T10:26:55","slug":"political-parties-civil-society-welcome-proposal-to-harmonise-elections-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/political-parties-civil-society-welcome-proposal-to-harmonise-elections-2","title":{"rendered":"Political parties, civil society welcome proposal to harmonise elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>The National Consultative Forum of Political Organisations (NFPO) and the civil society have welcomed the proposal of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to synchronise Rwanda\u2019s presidential and parliamentary elections in the next election cycle.<\/p>\n

The development was revealed by the new NEC chairperson Oda Gasinzigwa, last week shortly after taking the oath of office at the Supreme Court premises in Kigali.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The New Times, Gloriose Uwanyirigira, the spokesperson of the National Consultative Forum of Political Organizations (NFPO) and member of PSD said that they support the NEC proposal because of its benefits toward the country as well as political parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially in terms of the budget and the time members of the political parties used to spend in the elections will be reduced,\u201d she added<\/p>\n

On his part, Joseph Nkurunziza Ryarasa, the Chairperson of the Rwanda Civil Society Platform said that the proposal is good especially as Rwanda is still recovering from the COVD-19 economic crisis.<\/p>\n

In addition, Ryarasa pointed out that simultaneous elections will reduce election expenditure in terms of finance and reduce the diversion of human resources for election duties for both the state and political parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cVoters will also benefit as movements and timeline will be reduced,\u201d he added<\/p>\n

Moreover, he said that it is just a matter of amending the constitution and a matter of harmonisation saying that the exercise has been done in other countries such as Uganda, and Kenya among others.<\/p>\n

MP Christine Mukabunani and a member of PS imberakuri pointed out that she supports the idea as long as it helps in reducing the cost of elections.<\/p>\n

However, Mukabunani stated that it must be done in accordance with the Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cHarmonisation must be done carefully in amending all articles talking about the term of MPs,\u201d she added<\/p>\n

Evariste Murwanashyaka, the Programs Manager of the Umbrella of Human Rights Organisations in Rwanda (CLADHO) said that they welcome the idea as it saves money and time.<\/p>\n

However, Murwanashyaka pointed out that there is a need for different consultations including political parties, civil society, and citizens saying that it requires a constitutional amendment<\/p>\n

It is expected that in case the proposal is approved by the Government, Rwf 6 billion will be saved.<\/p>\n

Previously, Gasinzigwa revealed that for the proposal to be implemented, a review of existing legal instruments would be a prerequisite.<\/p>\n

A constitutional review would include amendment of one article, she said. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t call for a referendum which would otherwise take a lot of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organising simultaneous elections were previously unattainable as the presidential term was seven years, while senators served for eight years with the term of members of the Chamber of Deputies running for five years.<\/p>\n

However, a previous amendment to the Constitution saw both the presidential and senatorial terms slashed to five years each, putting them on par with the term of deputies.<\/p>\n

Next presidential and senatorial elections are due August 2024 and, if NEC\u2019s proposal is eventually adopted, it means members of the Chamber of Deputies will serve for one extra year before the next poll.<\/p>\n

The move, according to NEC Secretary General, Charles Munyaneza, is well in line with the country\u2019s commitment to always fully fund its own elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe no longer depend on donor funding to conduct our elections. And when we look at our elections, be it the parliamentary elections or the presidential elections, you find that each consumes around Rwf7 billion,\u201d Munyaneza said.<\/p>\n

Instead of spending a combined Rwf14 billion on the two electoral events, he said, \u201cabout Rwf8 billion would be enough if they were held simultaneously.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next parliamentary elections were initially due in October this year with the presidential and senatorial polls due next year.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. The National Consultative Forum of Political Organisations (NFPO) and the civil society have welcomed the proposal of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to synchronise Rwanda\u2019s presidential and parliamentary elections in the next election cycle. The development was revealed by the new NEC chairperson Oda Gasinzigwa, last week shortly after taking the oath […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":36095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,29,14,772],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-36096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","category-to-homepage","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nPolitical parties, civil society welcome proposal to harmonise elections - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/political-parties-civil-society-welcome-proposal-to-harmonise-elections-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Political parties, civil society welcome proposal to harmonise elections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – Rwanda. The National Consultative Forum of Political Organisations (NFPO) and the civil society have welcomed the proposal of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to synchronise Rwanda\u2019s presidential and parliamentary elections in the next election cycle. 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