Kagame says nothing will distract Rwanda from elections this year

President Kagame recently met with journalist Joshua Massenti from Italian public radio. They discussed a wide-range of issues, including the forthcoming elections, the new constitution and the situation in the DRC. We reproduce excerpts of the interview below:

Question: Mr. President, this year is crucial for the internal politics of Rwanda. Nine years after the genocide, next July will be the end of the period of transition. You are planning to have presidential elections, but before that you will have a referendum on the new constitution. With on-going security problems in the DRC and Burundi, can you confirm that this calendar will be respected?

President KAGAME: Rwanda now has the capacity to deal with any such problems. I do not see them diverting us from the referendum and elections. We can carry out elections and at the same time deal with any spillovers from Burundi or the DRC. I do not foresee anything diverting us from our political programmes this year.

Question: For the preparation of the constitution, you established a judicial and constitutional commission, represented by all the political parties in the A.N.T. (Transitional National Assembly) headed by Tito Rutaremara, whose role was to prepare a draft constitution based on the views of the population. How much has the population been involved in this exercise of drafting the constitution?

President KAGAME: The constitutional commission, which you correctly point out is composed individuals drawn from all the political parties that exist in Rwanda, first drew up a structure of what needs to be done or what needs to be generally reflected in the constitution. After this they went into the districts and provinces, met different groups to solicit their views on what the constitution has been, what it should be, their concerns and so on. They also involved the Diaspora communities. The commission did not only consult within Rwanda, they visited other countries in Africa, Europe, the United States, Canada, learning from all their constitutions. It has been a very broad consultation process. They then compiled the views emanating from these consultations into a draft constitution. The first draft of the constitution was presented at a meeting of representatives from all the districts, civil society groups, the business community, professionals, academicians, religious leaders, students, the Diaspora and so on. The draft was discussed and some new views emerged, resulting into another draft. The next step has been to give this new draft to international legal experts who specialize in constitutional law. They shall advise on the best structure and language for the constitution, using the substance and material we presented to them. After this the draft constitution will be presented to, and discussed by, the Cabinet. Further recommendations may be made if it is necessary, then it will be forwarded to the National Assembly, which will also discuss it. After this, the draft constitution will be put before Rwandans in a referendum.

Question: What do you think the time-frame for this is?

President KAGAME: We should be able to hold the referendum in May. We would like enough time to be thorough. We also have to choose the time carefully to avoid holding the referendum during the rainy season. It causes problems to the population. They prefer that exercises like these take place during months where there is little rain.

Question: This will be an election by universal suffrage. Will you be a candidate in the elections?

President KAGAME: What is being proposed in the new constitution is indeed Universal Suffrage, one man or one woman, one vote. As for my candidature, it is not clear yet. This is a matter that has to be decided by the party to which I belong. But I also have to make a personal decision about whether I should stand or not. It is a combination of the decision of my party and my personal decision.

Question: When do you think the elections will be held?

President KAGAME: The exact timing has not yet been set. What has been set is the year. The elections will take place this year.

Question: A feature of Rwandan politics in the past was the fact that ethnicity or ethnic tensions were exploited for political purposes. This had dramatic consequences. Today there are parties and individuals, notably Faustin Twagiramungu, who wants to participate in the elections. He said three years ago that the ideology of social revolution, the ideology of ethnic majority, was a good ideology. What is your view about this?

President KAGAME: Whoever wants to participate in the elections is free to do so. Twagiramungu is a Rwandan and is free to contest the elections. But there will be guidelines for those contesting the elections, in order to avoid the dangers we faced in the past. These guidelines will be reflected in the new constitution. The new constitution recognizes our history, and therefore addresses issues that are likely to lead us to a repeat of the problems we faced in the past. But whoever qualifies to stand and abides by the guidelines, there will be no problems. If one wants to go against the rules then they will be disqualified. There are no apologies to make about that.

Question: On the Pretoria Agreement signed between you and President Kabila what is your appreciation about its implementation after six months? Are you not concerned also that the repatriation of ex-FAR/Interahamwe would cause security problems for Rwanda?

President KAGAME: The Pretoria Agreement is built on two key points, firstly; the disarmament and repatriation of the ex-FAR /Interahamwe, and therefore dealing with the security problems that concern Rwanda, and secondly, for our forces to withdraw from the Congo. The two points are closely connected. We had our troops in the DRC because of the ex-FAR/Interahamwe, and because they received support from the Kinshasa government. The idea is for Kinshasa to not only stop giving them support, but to also disarm and help in the repatriation of these groups. As a result of the Pretoria Agreement we took a risk and fulfilled our part of the agreement. We withdrew all our forces from the DRC in the hope that the Kinshasa government also fulfills its side of the agreement. However, so far we have not realized full implementation of the part of the agreement relating to disarming and repatriation of ex-FAR/Interahamwe. The facilitators, the South African government, are making efforts to work with the government of Congo to ensure that these commitments are also fulfilled. As to whether or not it is a danger to have ex-FAR/Interahamwe back in Rwanda as opposed to them being outside Rwanda, I do not see any problem in having them back inside the country because in security terms we are in full control of the country. They cannot be of any danger when they are inside the country. When they are outside, they continue to get support from various groups and governments that have an interest in using them against us. That makes them a bigger threat.

Question: The recent troubles in the east of the Congo, I am referring to the killings in the region of Ituri, and in the south around Uvira, does it not constitute a problem for the security of Rwanda?

President KAGAME: Of the two situations, the first in Ituri and the second in south Kivu, the one we are most concerned about is the one in south Kivu, because it is closer to Rwanda and is likely to affect us depending on how the situation develops. It is also linked to our neighbour to the south, Burundi. Ituri is a long distance from the area we are most concerned about, although it involves ex-FAR/Interhamwe as well. It is a concern, but not an immediate one.

Question: South Africa has a big role in the Great Lakes region, both in the DRC and in Burundi? What do think about their role in that region?

President KAGAME: The South Africans are doing a very good job, both in the Congo and in Burundi. Certainly they have done a much better job than the UN or any other party that has been involved in conflict resolution in the region.