KIGALI, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda's national electoral body in an interview defended the country's parliamentary elections system, saying it was designed according to Rwanda's context and to avoid tribalism that led to the 1994 genocide.
The central African country is set to hold parliamentary elections from Sept. 2 to 4 to elect all the 80 members of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, for a five-year term, according to the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
The elections of the lower house use one single nationwide constituency, where 53 seats will be directly elected by proportional representation. The other 27 seats reserved for special interest groups including women, the young and the disabled will be elected indirectly.
Having different constituencies in parliamentary elections would not help promote national unity and reconciliation, Charles Munyaneza, executive secretary of NEC, told Xinhua in an interview in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda.
Voting MPs who represent a group of people living in the same region is not the best way to hold them accountable to the voters, as it may bring negative effects including tribalism, said Munyaneza, citing examples of neighboring countries where the election has shown tribal traits.
He also said the parliamentary electoral system used by the country allows women to have the majority in the lower house, where women currently hold 64 percent of the total seats.
The Rwandan genocide in 1994 claimed about 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
The application for the candidature of this year's parliamentary elections will be received from July 12 to 25, and the confirmed candidates will be announced on Aug. 6. The electoral campaigns will be held between Aug. 13 and Sept. 1, according to NEC.
Provisional results of the upcoming elections will be announced no longer than five days after the poll while the final results will be announced by Sept. 16, the commission said.
September's elections could change the composition of the cabinet as cabinet members are selected from political parties on the basis of their seats in the lower house. In spite of this, a political party holding the majority of seats in the lower house can not have more than 50 percent of cabinet members.
