Rwanda : Moves To Harmonize Schedule Of Presidential and Parliamentary Elections

By Maniraguha Ferdinand [caption id="attachment_104451" align="alignnone" width="1000"] The move could save Rwanda millions in dollars[/caption] The new Rwanda National Electoral Commission boss, Oda Gasinzigwa urged the government to merge presidential elections with parliamentary ones to save funds. According to the revised constitution, Rwanda will hold presidential elections in 2024 while parliamentary elections (lower house)  are set to be in August 2023. After swearing in ceremony that took place Wednesday on 15^th February, Gasinzigwa told the audience that Electoral Commission wishes to hold both elections at the same time. If both elections are held together, Gasinzigwa said that Rwanda can save up to seven million US dollars. “It is a good thing if people come to discuss it, we can merge Presidential elections with Parliamentary ones. It will help us because in every country, it is hard to find budget for elections”, she said. Normally Rwanda used to have presidential elections after seven years but a revised constitution in 2015, put presidential term to 5 years. Parliamentary term remained at five years. If electoral calendar remains unchanged, Rwanda will always have presidential elections one year after parliamentary elections.