NEC meets parties’ forum over elections

The National Electoral Commission yesterday met with members of the Forum for Political Parties (FPP) to update them ahead of the Presidential campaigns that kick off today. FPP is a consultative forum of political organizations officially recognized in Rwanda. It is also a platform for dialogue and exchange of ideas among political organizations on the country’s problems and national policies. Speaking at the meeting, the NEC Executive Secretary, Charles Munyaneza, said that preparations necessary to hold the August 9 elections are almost complete.According to Munyaneza, some of the basic requirements for holding free and fair elections have been put in place. “We currently don’t have any major problems with the preparations and we are sure that we have been able to complete the preparation task by up to 98 percent,” he said adding that the few remaining things would also be in place on time. Munyaneza informed the FPP members that the commission has been able to set up 2,123 polling stations for elections around the country and urged them to appoint their observers who will man the stations in time and to equip them with the necessary documents. He also informed the political parties’ members that the transportation of the electoral materials to the districts would begin today. The FPP members were advised to make sure that their candidates conform to the new electoral law to avoid clashes, especially during the campaigning period, and cited the fact that some parties were not showing a clear campaign programme hence risking collision of rallies. “You need to clearly specify your campaigning programme with dates, hours and places of the campaigns, but most importantly, you should inform the district authorities about your rally at least 24 hours before, to avoid the clashing of parties at the same venue,” said Munyaneza. Ends