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Former Prime Minister Pierre Celestin Rwigema is among 18 candidates who have bee nominated for Rwanda’s nine slots in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).

The National Electoral Commission(NEC)presented the list to parliament on Monday on Friday’s elections.

Eight candidates, including Rwigema, 59, and several incumbents, were fronted by the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF).

The list also includes aspirants from opposition political parties,the National Youth Council,National Women Council, and proposed representatives of the disabled.

Both chambers of parliament will pick nine candidates to represent the country in the regional assembly.

“I’m an economist by training and have enough experience in politics and socio-economic issues.

If I get the opportunity to represent my country in EALA I will advocate for the effective implementation of (the EAC) common market and customs union protocols, and the fast-tracking of the negotiations on monetary union and the realisation of a political federation,”Rwigema told The New Times today.

Rwigema, who was the country’s prime minister between 1995 and 2000, returned from 11 years of self-imposed exile in the US last year.

Upon arrival in Kigali, he told journalists he was willing to take up “whatever available opportunity” to serve the country.

He blamed his flight into exile on what he called “machinations and intimidation from certain individuals.”

EAC is a regional bloc composed of five partner states, namely, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.