Parliamentary elections were held in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

between 29 September and 2 October 2003. They were the first parliamentary elections since

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

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 A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

in August 2003. The result was a victory for the

Rwandan Patriotic Front The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi; , FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. The RPF was founded in December 1987 by Rwandan Tutsi in exile in Uganda because of the ethnic violence that had occurred during the Rwandan Hutu Revo ...

-led coalition, which won 40 of the 53 elected seats in the new

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, and eighteen of the 27 reserved for women, youth and the handicapped.Rwanda: Elections held in 2003
Inter-Parliamentary Union Voter turnout was 96.5%.

Electoral system

The 80 members of the

consisted of 53 directly-elected members elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

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.

Campaign

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

Results

References

{{Rwandan elections Elections in Rwanda 2003 in Rwanda

Parliament of Rwanda