Since 2010, Rwanda has been experiencing democratic backsliding. Though Rwanda was never a full democracy, 2010 and onwards showed a consolidation of President Kagame’s power and more blatant moves to continue his hold on power. In the above video, which is a debate on Al-Jazeera about the status of Rwanda after the 2017 election of Paul Kagame, explains the democratic backsliding leading up to and during the 2017 election in Rwanda, in which Paul Kagame won 99% of the vote.
According to the video, since 2010, President Kagame has been increasing pressure on all opposition to his rule, consolidating his power in the nation. This continued in 2015 when he held a referendum to get rid of the term limits on Rwanda’s presidency, allowing him the opportunity to keep running for president until about 2034. As explained by David Himbara in the video, this itself was a sign of democratic backsliding as it showed Kagame’s intentions to stay in power, notably to escape possible repercussions for his actions. All this lead to the 2017 election where Paul Kagame ran for a third term. Already, this election had been watched warily by outside observers as it prevented a peaceful democratic transition, a necessity in an actual democracy. It showed that Kagame was not ready to give up his power. Additionally, as shown in Al-Jazeera’s video, the election itself was plagued by irregularities as Kagame winning 99% of the vote was seen as unlikely to occur under normal circumstances. The video continues by outlining the international concerns regarding this election as an example of democratic backsliding, while also allowing a supporter of the government to speak in its defence.
Image showing supporters of President Paul Kagame during the most recent election in Rwanda in 2017. Plagued by accusations of vote tampering, the vote resulted in a runaway victory for the incumbent. The 2017 election is often cited as an example of democratic backsliding in the country both for election irregularities and the fact that it put Paul Kagame in power beyond term limits, preventing a possible passover, a necessity in a democracy.
This video was interesting because it was set up to be a debate. There was one anti-government speaker, David Himbara, a critic of the government, and one pro-government, Gatete Nyiringabo. However, despite ostensibly being an equal debate, the questions were posed clearly more in favour of the anti-government Himbara. This affected at least slightly the objectiveness of the piece in explaining these instances in Rwanda as the moderator/interviewer had a clear position. That being said, it was still interesting to see an example of democratic transition from both sides, especially as the pro-government speaker was not actually a part of the Rwandan government. It allowed for at least some discussion of the issue beyond the traditional Western view of democracy and backsliding. Regardless, it was clear that Rwanda has been backsliding for some time, seen by blatant election irregularities and Kagame’s attempts to maintain his power, preventing the possibility of a peaceful transition as is necessary under a true democracy.
Works Cited:
Is Rwanda becoming a dictatorship? (n.d.). Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/upfront/2017/09/rwanda-dictatorship-170930085904781.html Kagame wins by landslide in Rwanda. (2017, August 5). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40822530
Rwanda Reconsidered 