Rwanda: There is no place for Victoire Ingabire in Rwandan politics

If you received your ‘Rwanda news’ only from the prominent Western mainstream media and, sadly, the African mainstream media, you would be led to believe that the country is a one-party state that does not allow the concept of political pluralism to exist. extend. to flourish.

That would be the furthest thing from the truth.

Anyone with even a passing knowledge of the Rwandan political system knows that not only is Rwanda a multi-party state, but its constitution requires a power-sharing agreement.

Instead of being a country completely dominated by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and its president, President Paul Kagame, government positions (including cabinet, mayoralty and ambassadorships) are shared with various parties such as the Social Democrats ( PSD) and the Liberals (PL).

Furthermore, according to the Constitution, the different branches of government (the executive, the legislative and the judicial) must be headed by different parties. That is why, for example, despite the predominance of the FPR in parliament, the president of the Lower House comes from the PL and the president of the Senate comes from the PSD.

Even smaller parties, such as PS-Imberakuri and the Democratic Green Party, gain leading positions in parliamentary committees despite having fewer than three seats each.

Simply put, ours is a constitutionally mandated coalition system.

Interestingly, it is not mandatory for all parties to join the coalition government. Some, such as PSD and PL, have joined, while others, such as the Green Party and PS-Imberakuri, have refused. These last two have chosen to remain “opposition” parties in the classic sense by not joining the Executive led by the FPR.

However, if you were to Google the words ‘Rwandan opposition leaders’, you would probably see the names of Christine Mukabunani and Frank Habineza, the respective leaders of the PS-Imberakuri and the Democratic Green Party.

The name you are most likely to read as opposition leader is Victoire Ingabire, a convicted felon only hanging around because of the pardon she sought and received from President Kagame.

Ingabire has tried to cleanse herself of the stench of her criminal past (she was found guilty of threatening state security, spreading rumors intended to incite people to rebel, and downplaying the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis by the Supreme Court in 2013). She and her acolytes have tried to touch up the story.

Probably because most people have forgotten how events unfolded in 2010 (when she returned to Rwanda from her home in the Netherlands trying to run in the presidential election as a candidate for the FDU-Inkingi party), she almost succeeded.

But she can’t fool me. I was a writer The new times at the time and I followed the entire Ingabire saga from the moment she landed until the day she was definitively sentenced by the Supreme Court.

Upon landing in the country, his first stop was the Kigali Genocide Museum in Gisozi. After the tour, she addressed the waiting press and said: “If we look at this monument, it only refers to the people who died during the genocide against the Tutsi.

His speech was pure minimization of the genocide.

Then, a few days later, she, along with her entourage, traveled to the southern town of Gitarama (now Muhanga) to pay respects and meditate at the grave of Dominique Mbonyumutwa, Rwanda’s first president and MDR-Parmehutu ideologue.

MDR-Parmehutu was the party that carried out the first pogroms against the Tutsis starting in 1959. Gitarama was known as the birthplace of MDR-Parmehutu and its genocidal ideology.

He then traveled north to Gisenyi Prison to visit genocide prisoners. Addressing them, he promised to end their miseries, saying, “your troubles will end soon.” Of course, all this was done within the first 30 days of his arrival in the country.

What she was doing, through her words and actions, is what is called ‘dog whistle policy.’ She was saying to those who harbor genocide ideology, “Hey guys, I’m her person.”

She was saying that she and her party were ideological children of Gregoire Kayibanda’s MDR-Parmehutu and Juvenal Habyarimana’s MRND.

Fortunately, after a thorough investigation that included evidence found on his laptop in the Netherlands by Dutch police (and later shared with Rwandan authorities), testimonies from his co-defendants, including an FDLR fighter named Major Vital Uwumuremyi, and Western Union money transfers, she was jailed.

Interestingly, even before she was imprisoned, it was discovered that one of the assistants who accompanied her from the Netherlands, a man named Joseph Ntawangundi, had an outstanding arrest warrant for crimes committed during the Genocide. He was arrested and later found guilty of the charges.

Today, this person, with that kind of story, is the one who has been labeled “Rwanda’s opposition leader” by the media and human rights organizations. When I asked Frank Habineza what he thought about it, he called the whole situation “absurd.”

In fact, it is absurd that people who would never allow such a person to run for political office in their countries believe that Rwandans deserve such a person. This can not be like this. We cannot allow it to be like this.

The author is a sociopolitical commentator.