By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report
No one can pretend to be surprised. Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda since 2000, has just won a fourth elected term in office. And as usual, it was a walkover, with a vote of the kind rarely seen since the era of Soviet pseudo-elections. Provisional results – subject to final confirmation – show that Kagame won 99 per cent of the vote on a 98 per cent turnout. The two token opponents allowed to appear on the ballot shared the remaining one per cent. Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) party is also likely to continue to dominate parliament.
It was the same at the last election in 2017, when Kagame took 98.79 per cent of the vote. Kagame could be president until at least 2034, having reworked the constitution in his favour in 2015.
There's no doubt Kagame is popular with many Rwandans, who credit him with bringing peace and restoring pride to the shattered county in the aftermath of the devastating 1994 genocide. Kagame has many supporters among western leaders, who point to the country's progress on economic development and women's equality, with Rwanda consistently top of the global rankings for women's representation in parliament.
But there's one big problem: Kagame is an authoritarian leader whose power is made possible by the ruthless suppression of criticism. Independent civil society and media aren't tolerated. An election held on a highly uneven playing field and in a climate of fear and intimidation can't possibly be a fair contest. It's impossible to know what level of support opposition candidates might have if they were truly free to put their case to the public, and if Rwandans were fully able to express their views, advocate for alternatives to government policies and ask difficult questions of those in power – all hallmarks of a competitive democracy.
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