Category: Rubrique

Patriotic Egyptians in Rwanda still worried if they will participate in their November 28, 2011 parliamentary elections.

Most of them have been shocked by the announcement from their embassy, Kigali that their electoral commission is considering canceling voting process in Diaspora due to few voters that have so far registered.

Egyptian embassy diplomatic attaché Ahmed Shouaib said that Egyptian electoral commission is currently contemplating not to spend too much funds on few voters abroad.

“The number of registered voters is small compared to the expected voters in the Diaspora. The number of the Egyptians in Rwanda who registered to vote on the official website are currently 12. Saudi Arabia has more than 98,000 and in Italy there are approximately 5,500, however this is not the last statistical number and there is time left for Egyptians to register online,” Ahmed Shouaib said in an interview with igihe.com.

Ahmed Shouaib added, “We haven’t made a final decision, but election observers are have to be deployed in embassies since they are the main pillars on which all the process depends so it will also have to be decided If the election process takes place without observers deployed in embassies as some ways of cutting costs so as to consider voting in diaspora despite the small numbers that may have registered,”

According to the latest statistics from online voters’ registration on the official website www.elections2011.eg, only 246,367 Egyptians in Diaspora have so far registered.

About forty-two million Egyptians are illegible to vote both in Egypt and Diaspora accordance to the Egyptian Interior Ministry’s statistics- that is those with National ID; reads a story published in Al-Masry Al-Youm news paper yesterday.

Ahmed Shouaib emphasizes that Egyptians in Diaspora still have only one window of increased pleasing numbers through online registration to participate in their parliamentary elections.

Political analysts suggest that many Egyptians in Diaspora have boycotted their parliamentary elections alleging that it involves a lot of corruption and that elections lacks transparency.

The Egyptian diplomatic attaché added that lots of suggestions from others diplomats can help in the forthcoming elections if they can pick lessons from elections done in different countries like South Africa, Brazil, Holland and others.

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Following recent emerged complaints that millions of Egyptians in the Diaspora were in a blackout on how to participate in their parliamentary elections, Egypt has now given directives to all her diplomatic offices around the world on how to vote.

Not only has it given directive but also logistics to assist in their first ever parliamentary elections of its kind.

Egyptians will hold their first ever parliamentary elections November 28, 2011 following an uprising that occurred early this year.

Last week Egyptian ambassador to Rwanda Khaled Abdel Rahman had to calm Egyptians in the country given that they had not received any information on how they will participate in the election.

“I would like to urge Egyptians in Rwanda to calm down since it’s not only them who are affected rather everyone in the Diaspora,” Rahman said.

“We are waiting for a directive and logistics from the electoral commission.” He added.

Igihe.com has learnt that Last Friday, Ahmed Shouaib the Egyptian diplomatic attaché, met Egyptians living in Rwanda at Egyptian Embassy, Kigali to avail possibilities of voting.

“All Egyptians should apply an online application on this official web site http://www.elections2011.eg/ voting is duty that we must all value. This is the time for the Egyptians all over the world to help in building their country.” Shouaib said.

“There are fewer than 100 Egyptians in Rwanda,” Shouaib said, adding “This will help us to manage the parliamentary election process much easier than other countries which have a bigger population of Egyptians.”

The Egyptian parliament consists of 498 seats and 10 members nominated by the president. In the past the Egyptian people used to vote for individual candidates or the political parties’ candidates.

In each constituency, farmers and workers would each have one representative in parliament.

In the 2011 elections, Egypt has restructured to form a new parliament. One third of the seats will be for the independent candidates and the two thirds will be for the listed candidates that represent the political parties or a coalition of parties.

There must be at least one woman in each list and voters can choose a list he or she supports and two other individual candidates- as long as one at least is a worker or farmer.

Mohamed Kamel Heshmat, an Egyptian activist, said in a Skype call, “I like this way, it limits the corruption and increases the chances of the new parties to take place in the parliament.”

Eslam Karam, an Egyptian lawyer and political activist, said on Facebook, “I think this will apply more democracy and give more opportunities for the new ideologies and new political parties to take place in the new parliament.”

Meanwhile some Egyptians argue that this parliamentary election involves a big number of youth due to their participation in the uprising which they say they are immature in politics.

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The French ambassador to Rwanda, Laurent Contini, has been reportedly recalled back to his country and may be replaced by Hélène Le Gal by the end of the year.

It is said his recalling back to his country was due to persistent demand by Alain Juppé the French foreign Minister and later president Nicolas Sarkozy endorsed the request.

According to a French popular magazine, Contini’s recalling back to his country seemed to have been pushed by Juppe who is said to be against Bernard Kouchner that had appointed Contini who is also said to be a strong supporter of closer ties between France and Rwanda.

Laurent Contini has been never in the good graces of Juppé whose dispute with the Rwandan authorities is publicly known.

When Juppe was reappointed as the Foreign Affairs Minister, Rwandan government did not like it calling it a bad surprise.

Juppe held the same position from 1993-1995, and it has been reported that findings of the Mucyo Commission which investigated French government in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi – that he strongly supported the forces that committed the Genocide.

Aged 44 years, Helen Le Gal is a career diplomat who is familiar with Africa.

She held his first job at the embassy in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso in the late 1990s and in the office of African Affairs.

After passages in Tel Aviv and Madrid, she joined the Office of the Minister for Development Cooperation from 2000 to 2002.

More recently, she headed the Central and Eastern Africa Department in the French Foreign Affairs Ministry from 2005 to 2009.

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Ivorian Prime Minister Guillaume Soro has said he has learnt a lot and intends to lean more from Rwanda’s experience in growth and looks forward towards strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.

Prime Minister Soro who has been in the country for Post-Conflict Peace Building meeting, held discussions with several high profiled government officials and visited different institution to learn more about Rwanda’s experience in all aspects of development.

“We have agreed to scale up our bilateral cooperation and our ministers of foreign affairs, and defence will meet soon to work on details of our cooperation,” Soro who is also Defense Minister said before departure.

Louise Mushikiwabo the Rwanda’s minister of foreign affairs said Rwanda has had good bilateral relationship with Ivory Coast.

Prime Minister Soro extended his stay in Rwanda after the post-conflict peace building meeting to pick lessons that would contribute towards his country’s reconstruction process.

Earlier on, the Ivorian Prime Minister paid a courtesy call on President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro and discussed ways of strengthening better relationships between both countries.

Additionally Soro also held talks with his counterpart Gen. James Kabarebe and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo.

“Today I met my colleague, the Minister of Defence, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and we shared experiences between our countries. Our countries have gone through similar circumstances, though we cannot compare the 3,000 people who died in Ivory Coast to one million that died in Rwanda.”

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Ivory Coast is yet to start working jointly with Rwanda’s unity and reconciliation commission.

The collaboration was requested by the Ivoirians Prime Minister Guillaume Soro who came in the country to attend a two day high level meeting on post-conflict peace building which aimed at learning from Rwanda’s experience.

In talks with his Rwandan counterpart Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, Ivorian PM disclosed that even though there are several unity and reconciliation initiatives in his country, similar mechanisms in Rwanda performed better.

“We too have unity and reconciliation commission for instance and I believe we can learn a lot from Rwandan progress in unity and reconciliation post Genocide,” he remarked.

Rwanda’s premier Habumuremyi insisted that it would be better for the Ivoirians to adopt best practices that can help a country which has emerged from war.

“Indeed Rwanda is willing to assist them since our aim is to strive for peace in the continent and if we have mechanisms which have worked well for us, then it can be useful elsewhere,” he remarked.

In related development Ivorian PM proposed trade ties with Rwanda and shown interests in areas of agriculture while other areas of collaboration will focus on security and demobilizing soldiers.

It was also agreed that foreign ministers from both countries will meet to discuss how to strengthen bilateral ties.

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Former Prime Minister Pierre Celestine Rwigema has apologized to Rwanda for carrying out a negative smear campaign against Rwandan government while in exile.

In 2000, Rwigema resigned his position as Rwanda’s Prime Minister. He immidiately fled into exile to United States of America becoming a fierce critic of Rwanda government under President Paul Kagame.

“You know I left this country with problems, though they were later resolved, but the way they looked like when I reached abroad I also reacted with lots of negative smear campaigns, lots of accusations because I was really not understanding the basis of it all,” Rwigema said in a press conference today.

“This followed the arrest warrant by prosecutor general Gerald Gahima who even followed me up to USA questing for my arrest. When I made a follow up, I realized it was actually not from the government but from some individuals who were plotting perhaps to kill me. The people who plotted aganist me were actually from my former political party,” Rwigema added.

“I know there are some people who probably are still hurt with what I said then and right now I apologize. I understood the truth that it was individuals plotting against me,’ he said.

Rwigema said he then begun getting closer to other Rwandans and sought how to return to rwanda.

He thanked the judiciary for clearing all 1994 Genocide cases that had emerged against him in Gacaca courts.

Why he fled

Former Prime Minister did not actually satisfy the press why he resigned referring them to a press conference he held then before he fled.

Reasons for running out of the country were due to then emerging accusations of his involvement in the 1994 Genocide.

“There was no problem at all to resign, it was even the time of ending transition, because I was even present at the swearing in of the president that time but secretly I knew accusations had begun emerging. I had been tipped by some people. You know when someone is still in authority, he has immunity and when you are no longer in authority whoever wanted you would simply grab you. I had learnt that some people had begun plotting against me,” He added.

While addressing the press, Mr Rwigema said that he was received in an honored way and that President Paul Kagame had a role in making it happen.

When asked what kind of role president Kagame played, Rwigema said that as a former prime minister requested to comeback home and the president rendered him that kind of reception as some people went to receive him at Kigali International Airport.

When asked whether he has come back to the political arena, Rwigema said that he is ready for any appointment since he feels strong and desire to serve his country but said that he does not belong to any political affiliation.

“Looking at what Rwanda has achieved in just ten years, it shows that Kagame’s leadership deserves support,” he said.

He was drilled by the press what trust Rwandans should have in him whether he has not come for any particular appointment and if he does not get the appointment he will not flee the country again.

Rwigema said that he is a reformed person and he has really apologized which he believes that probably Rwandans would believe him and that they would give it time to observe.

“The issue here is not committing a mistake but the issue is understanding and accepting the mistake and ready to correct it,” He explained.

Rwigema arrived in the country on Saturday evening received as a diplomat at Kigali International Airport. He came alone leaving his family in USA who will be joining him in the near future according to him.

Fresh reports have indicated that Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) plans to appoint an interim Prime Minister who will establish a cabinet for the next one month.

This follows the NTC’s expected Liberation Day to be celebrated this weekend in the Eastern City of Benghazi where rebellion that has overthrown the deceased Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s regime started.

In Brussels, Belgium NATO officials were scheduled to meet Yesterday to discuss their next steps after a military campaign that included thousands of airstrikes in Libya including one said to have contributed to Gaddafi’s capture and subsequent death on Thursday.

While Gaddafi’s family seeks a more respected burial- in sorrow, thousands of Libyans have been overjoyed over his downfall taking picture of his body and authorities had to transfer his body to a city commercial fridge as his burial waits.

Libya’s interim government, the National Transitional Council, has said Gadhafi’s burial will be delayed for a few days to allow International Criminal Court officials to check the body in Misrata if they choose to do so.

French president Nicolous Sarkozi said no one should rejoice over anyone’s death much as he/she could have done terrible things.

According to CNN, the international community reflected on the end of the Gaddafi regime quoting US president Barack Obama saying;
“Our military played a critical role in shaping a situation on the ground in which the Libyan people can build its own future,” President Barack Obama said Friday, referring to the U.S. role in the NATO operation in Libya.

The American based media empire-CNN also reported that the United Nations and two major human rights groups has called for an investigation into the death of Muammar Gaddafi amid questions over the final moments of the late Libyan strongman’s life.

“There seem to be four or five different versions of how he died,” the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement. “More details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in the fighting or after his capture.”