Rwanda flag Rwanda: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Rwanda

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Paul Kagame (since April 2000, re-elected in 2017) – RPF
Prime Minister: Édouard Ngirente (since 30 August 2017) - PSD
Next Election Dates
Presidential: 2024
Parliamentary: 2023
Main Political Parties
Rwanda is a one-party dominant state with the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front – a Tutsi nationalist and populist party which overthrew the Hutu-led government in Rwanda) in power. Opposition parties are allowed, but are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power. Some of the other important political parties are:
- Social Democratic Party (centre-left)
- Liberal Party
- Social Party Imberakuri (social-democratic)
- Democratic Green Party (green-liberal)
Executive Power
The President of Rwanda is the head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers exercise the executive power. The President is elected by popular vote for a seven-year term, which can be renewed indefinetly, and appoints the Prime Minister and all other members of Cabinet.
Legislative Power
Legislative power in Rwanda vests in Parliament, which consists of two chambers: Chamber of Deputies, whose 80 members are elected every 5 years; and the Senate, whose 26 members are elected or appointed for a mandate of 8 years (art. 64 of the Rwandan Constitution). Out of the 26 members of Senate, 12 elected by provincial councils, 8 are appointed by the President to ensure the representation of historically marginalised communities, 4 are appointed by the National Consultative Forum of Political Organisations, and 2 are elected by the staff of two universities (a public institution and a private one).
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
156/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Not Free
Political Freedom:
6/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: December 2023

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