19 09 13 BBC – Rwanda election: RPF wins parliamentary landslide

The
party of President Paul Kagame, which came to power after the genocide of 1994,
won 40 of the 53 seats directly elected on Monday.

The
opposition FDU-Inkingi, whose leader Victoire Ingabire is in jail, did not take
part in the election, as it is not officially registered.

Two
other parties regarded as close to the RPF took 13% and 9% of the
vote.

Voting
took placed days after two people were killed in two grenade attacks in the
capital, Kigali.

No
group has said it carried out the attacks but officials have blamed the rebel
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which is accused of links
to the 1994 genocide, and critics of the government recently exiled in South
Africa.

The
Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) government has been praised for maintaining
stability and overseeing rapid economic growth since the slaughter of some
800,000 minority ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

But
President Kagame has been increasingly accused of ignoring human rights and
stamping out any opposition.

The
RPF has kept its parliamentary majority but lost two
seats.

A
third opposition party to contest in the election, PS-Imberakuri, did not win
any seats.

Its
officials told the BBC that their supporters were harassed during the campaign –
charges rejected by the RPF.

Helped
by quotas, Rwanda has been the world's only parliament where women form a
majority.

The
parliament has 80 seats, 24 of which are reserved for women, two for candidates
representing the youth and one representing disabled
people.

Women's
groups were electing the female MPs on Tuesday; the other quota MPs will be
selected on Wednesday.