Pomp as liberals launch campaign in Rusizi District

The Liberal Party (PL) yesterday afternoon launched campaign for their 64 candidates in the race for the parliamentary elections, in an event held in Kamembe town of Rusizi District.Three yellow stars emblazoned on green colour, was the order of the day as the party’s top stalwarts endured a five-hour trip to the venue for their inaugural rally, preceding the three-week-long traversing of the country in search for votes.PL, which was represented by four legislators in the Parliament that completed its mandate early this month, is looking at increasing the number of their representation come September 16.Francois Byabarumwanzi, who is number two on the list submitted by the party to the National Electoral Commission, led a cheerful team of party candidates and other members who filled three buses to Kamembe.In Kamembe, they were joined by party president Protais Mitali, who in his address, said they are for promotion of civil liberties, social justice and development.Continue advocacy Mitali, who is also the minister of sports and culture, said that their aim is to ensure that all Rwandans understand the laws of the land, saying that people continue to fall victim of ignorance of the law.“People have the right to understand the laws and teaching them about the different legislations is one of our key priorities,” he told the rally that converged at the old taxi-park in Kamembe town.Mitali said on civil liberties, they would continue advocating for people to have the right to belong to a political party of their choosing, be proud of it and work for it.He, however, said that political dispensation should be undertaken with restraint, lauding the system of consensus-building that Rwanda chose to partake.“Political dispensation does not mean staging endless demonstrations and throwing stones,” Mitali told the party members and sympathisers, adding that their aim is to increase at least by three times their current representation in Parliament. He said they would strive to improve economic integration, which he said would boost exports, an area he said needs to improve.In an interview after the rally, Damien Hategekimana, a farmer said he has known the party for a long time and has been “a sympathiser.”“Their focus on development is good but they should also tell us how they intend to transform the agriculture sector, they need to bear in mind that the biggest part of the population are farmers,” said Hategekimana, a resident of Kamembe.To be able to cover the entire country in three weeks, the party officials have been divided into two campaign teams.The group that campaigned in Kamembe will today afternoon hold a rally in Ruhango District.