Prez contender in Rwanda sees intimidation as test

Bloomberg

The last time Rwanda held presidential elections, opposition leader Frank Habineza’s deputy was killed and he fled into European exile. Seven years on, he sees his candidacy in next month’s vote as a cautious step towards greater political freedoms in the tiny East African country.
The August 4 election will be the first time Habineza, who leads the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and says he still faces intimidation, has been allowed on the ballot papers. That, according to the 40-year-old, is enough of a victory as he competes against President Paul Kagame, who’s running for a third term after the constitution was changed and is all but certain to win.
“This is an election where people will hear an alternative, something different from what the ruling party says,” Habineza said in an interview in the capital, Kigali. “This is a success for my party and the whole country.”
Rwanda’s elections will take place amid a climate of fear, the result of years of crackdowns on the political opposition, media and human-rights defenders following the Rwandan Patriotic Front’s assumption of power in the wake of the 1994 genocide, Amnesty International said this month. Authorities dismiss the criticisms and point to the stability and economic revival of the landlocked nation of about 12 million people. The economy has grown an annual average of more than 7 percent since Kagame became president in 2000.
The Local Government Ministry’s spokesman, Ladislas Ngendahimana, said by phone that Habineza hadn’t filed any complaints about harassment and any allegations were “false claims.” The Democratic Green Party, established by Habineza in 2009, wasn’t allowed to register for the last presidential vote in August 2010.