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INTERVIEW
May 16, 2003
Posted to the web May 16, 2003
Brussels
Faustin Twagiramungu was prime minister of Rwanda from 1994
to 1995, taking up the post after the 1994 genocide when the transitional
government was formed. Now living in exile in Belgium, he talked to IRIN on
Wednesday about his candidacy in Rwanda's presidential elections scheduled for
later this year, when he hopes to challenge President Paul Kagame.
Can you confirm your announcement of 10 December 2002
that you will be a candidate in the presidential election later this
year?
A: I have announced my candidacy but officially I am not yet
a candidate because the electoral law has not yet been made official. The
National Transitional Assembly, certainly, has recommended the banning of my
party, the Mouvement democratique republicain (MDR), but the government has not
yet made its decision. If the party is banned I will present myself as an
independent. As for President Kagame's virulent words against the opposition,
they don't impress me. The international community should not accept one man
making himself the master of everything and use all means to assure his
election. It remains to be seen when I will be able to return to Rwanda.
Exactly how do you run as a candidate when you are in
exile?
A: I am not expecting to run a campaign and get myself
elected from my small apartment in Brussels. I am not a refugee in Belgium. I
still have my Rwandan passport and nothing prevents me from going to Rwanda to
officially submit my candidacy. But first the referendum must take place before
I can exercise my rights. Then the problems of security for the opposition have
to be settled, but for that I have to be on the spot. Finally, international
observers, and not only Africans, have to be able to move about freely so that
these elections are free and transparent.
Do you imagine campaigning in Rwanda while former
president Bizimungu is still in prison?
A: Bizimungu was put in prison principally for political
reasons because he wanted to set up a party. I would appreciate him being freed
before the elections. My party already exists, it's even been part of the
government of national unity since 19 July 1994. Also I should be able to move
about freely to express myself. If the current regime finds that a democracy can
function without an opposition party it must say so loudly. But I say to the
international community that it shouldn't fund these elections or it may as well
let Kagame carry on with the transition. The genocide suffered by Rwanda cannot
be a reason for returning to a one party system that we fought during the time
of President Habyarimana.
What are the main points of your programme?
A: We will concentrate above all on poverty, and economic
problems. Secondly, the socio-political situation: the trauma suffered by Rwanda
means that we must consider the framework for reconciliation best suited to
giving solutions for everyone in Rwanda. Thirdly, the inter-regional context:
there must be peace in Rwanda and above all in the region. Rwandans, Burundians
and Congolese want to put an end to their conflicts and live together. In any
case, I will present myself as a Rwandan and not as a Hutu; we have suffered
enough because of these distinctions.
Q: What is your relationship with the Concertation
permanente de l'opposition democratique rwandaise (CPODR), which principally
groups exiled Tutsis and Hutus, monarchists, as well as the Forces democratiques
de liberation du Rwanda (FDLR)?
A: I don't believe in their programme of an inter-Rwandan
dialogue and I don't think it will ever happen. We already had the opportunity
for this dialogue during the Arusha negotiations in 1993. The conditions which
have led to an inclusive inter-Congolese dialogue in the DRC [Democratic
Republic of the Congo] in order to end the conflict there do not exist in
Rwanda. With us, the problems can be solved by putting pressure on President Kagame to accept the process of democratisation. The opposition figures should
be able to come with me to Rwanda. As for the FDLR, they have been in the DRC
for nine years, they have tried everything, they have never succeeded. I am
astonished nowadays to see unarmed political opposition figures teaming up with
these armed combatants. These are not necessarily Interahamwe but it's not for
me to prove that. If among them there are people soaked in the genocide then
everything must be done to arrest them and bring them before the courts. As for
the others, pressure must be brought both on [DRC President Joseph] Kabila and
Kagame to get these fighters repatriated in return for guarantees. The solution
is political, not military. The FDLR and Kagame are wasting their time fighting
each other with weapons.
What do you think of the draft constitution which will be
put to a referendum on 26 May?
A: It contains positive elements and negative elements. For
example, I am totally against exorbitant power being given to the executive
which will have de facto control over all other parties and which on certain
points will be able to control both the judiciary and the legislative. It is not
democratic and if I am elected I will get down to modifying these points of the
constitution.
What is your assessment of the transition period?
A: I participated in it for thirteen months, from July 1994
to the end of August 1995. I don't assess these nine years entirely negatively.
Security is not 100 percent, but at least in Rwanda people are not fighting each
other any more. Secondly, efforts have been made over the programme of
reconciliation even if this remains problematic. Thirdly, economic progress has
been made, but poverty in Rwanda is the worst I have known since my childhood.
The failures: freedom of expression, political freedom and freedom of
association. Newspapers are being closed, journalists are put in jail, people
are forced to adopt the words of the president. It is intolerable. Today people
are tired of Kagame not only in Rwanda but throughout the region. But he has to
give us the means to challenge him and the Rwandan people the right to
choose.
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