Rwanda’s Parliamentary Seat Distribution Announced After Elections

By The Inspirer.

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has announced the provisional results of the July 14-16 parliamentary elections, outlining the distribution of seats in the Chamber of Deputies, Rwanda’s lower house of parliament.

The Chamber of Deputies comprises 80 seats, with 27 reserved for special interest groups: 24 for women, two for youth, and one for people with disabilities. The remaining 53 seats are filled through direct suffrage, with political party candidates and independents competing for these positions. According to the Constitution, a party or independent candidate must secure at least 5% of valid votes to gain a seat.

Based on the provisional results:

• The RPF-Inkotanyi coalition garnered 68.83% of the 8,901,453 valid votes, securing 37 seats.
• The Liberal Party (PL) received 8.66% of the votes, and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) earned 8.62%, with both parties obtaining five seats each.
• The PDI, Green Party, and PS-Imberakuri each received around 5% of the votes, granting them two seats each.

Independent candidate Janvier Nsengimana, who secured 0.21% of the votes, did not meet the 5% threshold required for a parliamentary seat.

In comparison to the previous legislature, the Green Party and PS-Imberakuri each retained their two seats, while PDI, formerly part of the RPF coalition, increased its representation from one to two seats.

The NEC is set to release the final results of the parliamentary elections by July 27.