Rwanda votes as Kagame set to extend 24 years rule

 

Polling stations opened across Rwanda for presidential and parliamentary elections on Monday with the African nation’s leader Paul Kagame set to cruise to victory and extend his iron-fisted rule for another five years.

 

Rwanda’s de facto leader since the end of the 1994 genocide and president since 2000, Kagame faces only two challengers after several prominent critics were barred from standing.

 

The lineup is a carbon copy of the last election in 2017, when Kagame obliterated his rivals with almost 99 percent of the vote, and there is little doubt about the outcome this year.

 

Frank Habineza, leader of the Democratic Green Party, and independent Philippe Mpayimana were the only two candidates approved to run against Kagame out of eight applicants.

 

With 65 percent of the country’s population aged under 30, Kagame — who is running for a fourth term — is the only leader most Rwandans have ever known.

 

The 66-year-old is credited with rebuilding a traumatised nation after the genocide unleashed by Hutu extremists that killed around 800,000 people, mainly Tutsi but also Hutu moderates.

 

But his regime is widely criticised by rights groups as autocratic, stifling the media and political opposition with arbitrary detentions, killings, and enforced disappearances.

 

Abroad, it faces accusations of stoking instability in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where a UN report says Rwandan troops are fighting alongside M23 rebels in the troubled east.

 

More than nine million Rwandans are registered to cast their ballot across 2,433 polling stations on Monday, with the presidential race being held at the same time as legislative elections for the first time.

 

Polls opened around 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and counting will begin as soon as they close at 3:00 pm (1300 GMT), with partial results expected to be released as tallying progresses.

 

– ‘Severe restrictions’ on opposition –

 

Kagame won with more than 93 percent of the vote in 2003, 2010, and 2017 — scoring 98.79 percent in the most recent election, compared with just 0.48 percent for Habineza and 0.73 percent for Mpayimana.

 

He has overseen controversial constitutional amendments that shortened presidential terms from seven to five years and reset the clock for the Rwandan leader, allowing him to potentially rule until 2034.

 

Rwandan courts rejected appeals from prominent opposition figures Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire to remove previous convictions that effectively disqualified them from Monday’s vote.

Ahead of the election, Amnesty International said Rwanda’s opposition faces “severe restrictions… as well as threats, arbitrary detention, prosecution, trumped-up charges, killings and enforced disappearances”.

 

– ‘Too strong’ –

 

The imbalance between Kagame and his rivals was evident during the three-week campaign, as the well-oiled PR machine of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front swung into high gear.

 

Pennants on cars, flags, posters, and banners displayed along roads, the red, white, and blue colours of the ruling party and its slogans “Tora Kagame Paul” (“Vote Paul Kagame”) and “PK24” (“Paul Kagame 2024”) are everywhere.

 

Despite his many critics, Kagame enjoys great support in Rwanda.

 

While the World Bank says almost half the population lives on less than $2.15 a day, Kagame has overseen economic growth rates of an average of 7.2 percent between 2012 and 2022 and the development of infrastructure including hospitals and roads.

 

He has made great achievements, he has helped our children to go to school, increased the numbers of teachers, he also gave us health insurance,” Venantia Nyirangendo, 51, said during the final RPF rally on Saturday.

 

“Without him in power, this country would collapse. It’s good that he is our leader, we all love him.”

 

In contrast to the vast crowds attending Kagame’s rallies, his rivals have struggled to make their voices heard, with barely 100 people showing up to some events.

 

“It’s good to see that people are no longer afraid to listen to other candidates,” Mpayimana said, but added: “We are facing a candidate who is too strong.”

 

In the parallel parliamentary election, more than 500 candidates are chasing 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

 

Of those, 53 are elected by universal suffrage. The RPF currently holds 40 seats and its allies 11, while Habineza’s Green Party has two MPs.

 

Another 24 spots are reserved for women, two for youths, and one for people with disabilities. All candidates for these seats must be independent, and indirect elections will be held on Tuesday.

 

Former US President Donald Trump has reacted to a failed assassination attempt on his life, revealing that a bullet grazed the upper part of his right ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening.

 

Trump shared details of the harrowing experience in a social media post after the incident, thanking the United States Secret Service and other law enforcement agents for their swift response.

 

“I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania,” Trump wrote.

 

He also expressed his condolences to the victims of the attack. “Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured,” he stated

 

Describing the moment he was shot, Trump recounted, “It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong when I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”

 

 

 

A fired up Joe Biden again rejected speculation he would quit the US presidential race and tried to turn the spotlight on rival Donald Trump as he took his crisis-hit reelection bid back on the campaign trail Friday.

 

But as he addressed a lively rally in the battleground state of Michigan, the drumbeat of Democrats urging the 81-year-old Biden to step aside kept getting louder following a disastrous debate performance against Trump.

 

“There’s been a lot of speculation lately. What’s Joe Biden going to do, is he going to stay in the race, is he going to drop out?” Biden told supporters in the city of Detroit, to chants of “Don’t you quit!”

 

“Here’s my answer: I am running and we’re going to win! I’m not going to change that,” Biden said.

Opposition continued to grow however despite a defiant Biden coming out fighting at a high-stakes press conference at a NATO summit in Washington on Thursday.

 

Nineteen Democratic lawmakers have now called on him to bow out of the race due to concerns over his health and mental acuity in the wake of the June 27 debate debacle.

 

He told his first solo news conference for eight months that he was the “most qualified” person to run for president. It was watched by 24.2 million people in the United States, almost half the number who saw the debate.

 

‘President not a dictator’ –

 

 

 

A series of gaffes at the summit, including referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” and mixing up Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, kept the focus on his fitness to serve.

 

At the Detroit rally Biden tried to brush off the blunders.

In scenes more reminiscent of rallies by his rival where the press are often abused, reporters in Detroit were booed after Biden addressed them and said they were “hammering me because I sometimes confuse names.”

 

Biden then urged the media to focus on Trump’s “lies” and on “Project 2025,” a blueprint for power by hard-line conservatives that Democrats have said the former president would implement.

The 78-year-old Trump denies he is involved with the program

Americans want a president not a dictator,” Biden said to cheers. Referring to Trump’s comment that he would only be a dictator on “day one” of his presidency, Biden said he would let that happen “over my dead body.”

 

Earlier, Biden said “I promise you I am OK” as he addressed supporters at a diner.

 

Biden, who blamed jet lag and illness for his stumbling debate performance, will keep up a relentless travel schedule in coming days as he seeks to allay concerns over his stamina and sharpness.

“The president understands that there’s still some anxiety,” Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler told reporters traveling to Michigan with the president aboard Air Force One.

 

“That’s why he’s laser focused on demonstrating that he is the best person to take on Donald Trump,” he said.

Tyler played down the verbal slip-ups, saying: “Joe Biden has been making gaffes for 40 years, he made a couple of last night, he probably will continue to do so.”

 

The top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile said he had met with Biden late Thursday after the press conference.

 

Jeffries said he “expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward” but did not give further details.

Next week Biden heads to Texas and Nevada to reach out to his vital Black and Latino voters, and will give his second major network interview of recent weeks on Monday to broadcaster NBC.

 

The concerns over Biden are affecting Democratic donors, with Hollywood star and high-profile supporter George Clooney calling on Biden to step aside on Wednesday.

 

A number of other key donors have told the largest Biden campaign fund that around $90 million in pledged donations is on hold if he carries on running, the New York Times reported on Friday.

 

 

– ‘Gaffes for 40 years’ –