The Hindu : Rwanda Presidential poll in Aug.?

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Saturday, Jul 05, 2003

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International

Rwanda Presidential poll in Aug.?

KIGALI (Rwanda) july 4. Rwandan officials set an August 25 date for presidential elections, a Minister said on Thursday, the first elections since the 1994 genocide that killed more than a half million people in this central African country.

Rwandans will also vote on September 29 to elect a Parliament, said the Foreign Minister, Charles Muligande, at the end of a Cabinet meeting. Campaigning for presidential polls opens on Aug. 1 and will run till Aug. 23. The vote marks the end of a transitional government that has run the country since the 1994 slaughter in which more than 500,000 members of the country's Tutsi minority and moderates from the Hutu majority were killed, spurred on the extremist Hutu government. The rampage was halted by RPF rebels, overthrowing the Hutu government.The President, Paul Kagame — who led the RPF to capture the capital, Kigali — is expected to run for office after several political parties proposed RPF nominate him to run as a joint candidate. The party is expected to meet Saturday to nominate him.

— AP

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