Parties select 100 to observe elections

The Forum For Political Parties (FFPP) has selected 100 people as observers in the upcoming Presidential elections slated for August 9. This was announced yesterday by the Executive Secretary of the FFPP, Anicet Kayigema. He told The New Times that each political party was requested to select nine people to represent its interests during the voting period. “Since we have ten political parties, the total number registered was ninety. The other ten observers came from within the FFPP,” he said “The observers are expected to monitor election preparations, population participation and election results”. The observers are expected to come up with a report for the Executive Secretary of FFPP at the end of the elections. FFPP is constitutionally recognized in Rwanda as a platform for dialogue and exchange of ideas among political organizations on the country’s problems and national policies. The National Electoral Commission (NEC) recently said that over 5.2million Rwandans are expected to turn up for the forthcoming presidential polls, a 1.3 million increase compared to 2003 presidential elections when 3.9 million people took part. 16,000 polling stations will be set up while 70,000 polling agents are currently undergoing training. Ends