Rwandan parliamentary election, 2003

Parliamentary elections were held in Rwanda between 29 September and 2 October 2003. They were the first parliamentary elections since 1988 and the second multi-party national elections in the country's history. They were held following the approval of a new constitution in a referendum in August 2003.

The result was a victory for the Rwandan Patriotic Front-led coalition, which won 40 of the 53 elected seats in the new Chamber of Deputies, and eighteen of the 27 reserved for women, youth and the handicapped.^[1] Voter turnout was 96.5%.

Electoral system

The 80 members of the Chamber of Deputies consisted of 53 directly-elected members elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency, 24 women elected by electoral colleges, and three members elected by mini-committees, two of which represented youth and one represented disabled people.^[1]

Campaign

AA total of 230 candidates contested the 53 directly-elected seats, with the official campaigning period starting on 5 September 2003.^[1]

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
Rwandan Patriotic Front coalition	Rwandan Patriotic Front	2,774,661	73.78	33
	Centrist Democratic Party			3
	Ideal Democratic Party			2
	Democratic Union of the Rwandan People			1
	Rwandan Socialist Party			1
Social Democratic Party		463,067	12.31	7
Liberal Party		396,978	10.56	6
Party for Progress and Concord		83,563	2.25	0
Independents		42,333	1.13	0
Reserved seats		–	–	27
Invalid/blank votes		58,001	–	–
Total		3,818,603	100	80
Registered voters/turnout		3,958,058	96.48	–
Source: African Elections Database

References

1. Rwanda: Elections held in 2003 Inter-Parliamentary Union