Rwanda political parties are the main source of power in Rwanda. The Republic of Rwanda mainly experiences one party state.
Rwanda Political parties are present in all over Rwanda. There are a host of political parties in Rwanda that are engaged in capturing the power. At present Rwandan Patriotic Front is in power in the Republic of Rwanda.
But in the colonial period when the Republic of Rwanda was under the rule of the Belgian government, the Union Nationale Rwandaise party was formed to seek independence. In return of that the Belgian rulers started another party, Paramehutu, under the banner of their government. Finally on 1st July, 1962, Rwanda was granted political independence. Apart from these major
political parties of Rwanda, the Rwanda National Political Party was formed in September 1959 by Proper Bwanakweli. In the 1969 elections Paremhutu received 77% of the votes cast. It was the dominant political party of that time. In 1975 President Habyarimana founded the National Revolutionary Movement for Development which is the only legal party of the nation. In the year 1990 several other political parties were launched like Democratic and Socialist Party (DSP), Democratic Republican Movement (MDR), Coalition for the Defense of the Republic (CDR) and Liberal Party (LP).
At present there are seven
political parties in the Republic of Rwanda. There are several opposition parties in Rwanda but they are not allowed to capture the political power. The important political parties in the Republic of Rwanda are:
- Rwandan Patriotic Front- The Rwandan Patriotic Front is the party which is in power at present in Republic of Rwanda. The leader of this political party is Paul Kagame. This party was formed in 1987 by Tutsi refugee. RPF, as the dominant party of Rwanda, was held responsible for 1994 genocide. This party has a military wing called Rwandan Patriotic Army now named as Rwandan Defense Force.
- Parti Socialiste Rwandais (PSR) - This is a pro-government political party based in the Republic of Rwanda. This party was launched on the 18th August, 1991. It mainly works in the sector of introducing land reform.
- Front Patriotique Rwandais (FPR)
- Parti Libéral (PL)- It is lead by Prosper Higiro
- Parti Démocrate Centriste (PDC)
- Parti Démocratique Idéal (PDI)
- Parti Social Démocrate (PSD)
