In the last article in this series, we saw how President Juvenal Habyarimana mismanaged the political crisis during the RPF armed rebellion and alienated those in opposition who could have supported him. In this piece, we shall witness how he made the country ungovernable by exploiting stereotypes of the PARMEHUTU ideology and what will follow. ALSO READ: How Habyarimana mismanaged political crisis, galvanising opposition The opposition momentarily showed some assurance by participating in the government of Prime Minister Dismas Nsengiyaremye. This explains the move by MDR, PSD, PDC and PL leaders to meet RPF representatives in Brussels on June 1, 1992, in a “historic meeting aimed at reconciling the Rwandese with themselves”. At the end of the meeting, these parties declared that they agreed with RPF on its objectives but that they did not agree on the means to achieve them. We are fighting against a common enemy but our methods are not the same, they said in a communique. ALSO READ: How Habyarimana regime sabotaged peace accords Habyarimana's ruling MRND party boycotted that meeting, but as it was taking place, two officials of MDR, i.e. Karamira and JM Nkezabera were holding a conference in Brussels to denounce the communiqué that was signed by their party colleagues, Bagaragaza and Twagiramungu. President Habyarimana did whatever was in his power to break that tactical alliance through several manoeuvres meant to block the Arusha negotiations. He made the country ungovernable by exploiting stereotypes of the PARMEHUTU ideology. CDR party was created and utilised to serve that purpose. Its role in the country’s total paralysis was indisputable. The politics of sabotage succeeded because the government lost its authority as the war progressed. This was under the combined actions of MRND, CDR and the opposition’s incompetence. For instance, the illegal act of evicting MRND from local administration offices (kubohoza) and their spirit of insubordination partly explain the failure of administrative reforms that Nsengiyaremye’s government wanted to undertake. In a tone of satisfaction, CDR talked of the failure of Nsengiyaremye’s government, 100 days after its formation. ALSO READ: How Kayibanda, Habyarimana failed to handle Tutsi refugee crisis According to CDR, the government failed because of its composition and because it refused to include other parties in government. Within its ranks, CDR alleged, the government had brought on board allies of its “enemy” (RPF), such as PL, which it considered to be a branch of RPF. Some regions, such as Kibuye, were not represented in the government. The government displayed its internal wrangles in broad daylight. It did not have collective responsibility because every minister worked exclusively for his political party. According to CDR, the government manifested its inability to implement its program, saying, “The Nsengiyaremye government has betrayed the Hutus. The Nsengiyaremye government is betraying us”. MRND gave the same negative account at the end of Nsengiyaremye’s term of office. The transition created a gap instead of filling it. Even according to Faustin Twagiramungu, Nsengiyaremye’s government disappointed the people. “The Prime Minister was incapable of keeping the cohesion of his government team, Twagiramungu wrote. Instead of resigning or calling for pressure from the parties opposed to MRND and its allies, he instead resorted to writing confrontational letters to the President of the Republic. His iron hand only aggravated the tension within the government. Thus, instead of being a real transitional government, it became a government of confrontation. At the inception of Liberal Party (PL), one of the objectives of its founding members was to remove ethnic and regional divisions. The inner circle of the founders of PL was composed of Hutu who wanted to associate with Tutsi partners. The idea of equality within PL won the hearts of many Tutsi who wanted an open political party devoid of any discrimination. The “Tutsi party” label disgusted some Hutu members of the PL and caused discomfort within the party leadership. The party began to preach ethnic balance, and fell into the MRND trap. This was especially felt at the time of posting administrative staff in the ministries held by PL. Competence that was considered as value No. 1 came far behind ethnic and regional origins of a candidate. The North rejected PL's liberal ideology. Members from the North did not wish to participate actively in PL activities. They displayed artificial militarism.
