Debate on removal of term limits from Rwanda’s Constitution to allow President Paul Kagame to seek a third seven-year mandate is high on the agenda when parliament reopens this week.

The House has received petitions by more than five million Rwandans demanding removal of Article 101 on term limits. It will discuss and vote on whether the petitions are enough to call a referendum to decide on the matter, with two years remaining to the next election.

The development is already attracting international attention, with an official of the US State Department warning against a change to the Constitution.

“The United States believes that democracy is best advanced through the development of strong institutions, not strongmen,” a spokesman for the State Department’s Africa bureau Rodney Ford told The EastAfrican.

“Changing constitutions to eliminate term limits in order to favour incumbents is inconsistent with democratic principles and reduces confidence in democratic institutions,” he added.

President Kagame has remained non-committal on whether he will seek a third term, but indicated that Rwandans have the mandate to determine their political future.

According to the Speaker of Parliament Donatille Mukabalisa, debate on the matter was put on the agenda after the House received an overwhelming number of petitions from citizens.

“Parliament represents the interests of the people. We will certainly look at the demands of the citizens, assess their requests and take necessary action,” Ms Mukabalisa said, amid reports that some of the petitions could have been unwillingly signed in a drive orchestrated by ruling party members.

READ: Rwandans set the ball rolling in campaign to extend Kagame’s rule

The drive to keep President Kagame in power aroused controversy after prisoners, who include genocide convicts serving life sentences and thus deprived of their civic and voting rights, also filed petitions calling for an amendment to the Constitution.

There are also claims that government and ruling RPF party officials are “signing” petitions on behalf of “unwilling” or even “unaware” citizens.

The EastAfrican has learnt that the issue has pitted the Rwandan government against development partners, who are questioning the genuineness of the drive after concerns emerged that the campaign was being orchestrated by the ruling party Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)-Inkotanyi.

READ: RPF pushes for Kagame to serve third term

It is understood that Rwanda’s Minister of Local Government Francis Kaboneka appeared before a panel of concerned development partners last week who wanted to know the “genuineness” of the campaign.

According to sources, Mr Kaboneka maintained that the campaign was the work and will of the people who genuinely want President Kagame to remain in office come 2017 when his constitutional term comes to an end.

However, a diplomat from the European Union who spoke to The EastAfrican on condition of anonymity said that development partners and donors were watching the situation closely and will come up with a position when the right time comes.

“The campaign would absolutely have no problem if it were the will of the people but it would be worrisome if people are being forced to sign or if some people or officials are signing on their behalf,” the diplomatic source said, adding that several measures have been put in place to gauge the situation.

Only the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda has openly expressed its opposition to plans to amend the Constitution to remove term limits. On Wednesday, Rwanda’s youngest political party announced that it had filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court to block attempts to amend the Constitution.

“Today we filed a lawsuit to the Supreme Court, demanding the Court to block parliament from any future plans of changing the Constitution, specifically, regarding the lifting of presidential term limits,” the party president Frank Habineza said.

According to the party, Article 101 of the Constitution, which stipulates that “the President of the Republic is elected for a term of seven years renewable only once,” should not be touched. The article adds that “Under no circumstances shall a person hold the office of President of the Republic for more than two terms.”

The Rwandan Greens insist that Article 193, concerning amendments to the Constitution, does not allow the change of term limits from the stated two to any other number. The Article only allows a reduction or an increase in the lengths of the term of office.

However, those supporting the removal of term limits say Article 193 gives provisions upon which Article 101 can be amended, especially through a referendum.

Key political parties such as the Social Democratic Party of Rwanda (PSD, the second largest party behind RPF, and the Liberal Party (PL) have already voiced their support to the drive to amend the Constitution.

Both PSD and PL made their stand known last weekend in their party congresses even though the two parties which have been serving in a unity government with RPF revealed that they would be fielding their own candidates, in what many would see as a formality to add up numbers.

President Kagame is yet to declare his position but in April he said that he was open to going or remaining, depending on which side wins the debate.

The leader, who remains largely popular among Rwandans, is expected to easily win should the Constitution be amended to remove term limits, compared with his counterparts in Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo, whose attempts to seek another term in office have been met with strong resistance.