Ntawukuliryayo Jean Damascene is the President of Rwanda’s second house of parliament, the Senate, and Secretary-General of the Social Democratic Party PSD, the second biggest political party in Rwanda after the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front.

The EastAfrican’s Michael Wakabi, spoke to Mr Damascene on why opposition politics is largely invisible in Rwanda.

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The perception persists outside Rwanda that there is no real opposition in the country. What role does the PSD play in the Government of National Unity and how does politics work here?

We are trying to build a nation for posterity, and that is a goal shaped by our history. The PSD was born in 1991 and the motto of the party was social development, justice and security for all Rwandans without discrimination. Those themes have run through our manifesto and programmes since inception.

Because of our position, our leaders were killed during the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. One could argue that we were victims of the genocide as much as the Rwandan society and anybody who was opposed to Habyarimana.

That history has had an impact on our understanding of democracy and responsibility to our country. After nine years of transition as we tried to rebuild this country after the genocide, there was consensus that Rwanda should be led by a Government of National Unity with reconciliation as the foremost goal.

Inevitably, the brand of politics you find here will be different from what you may consider the norm elsewhere.

How is power shared and what is the PSD’s share of positions in government?

There are three major political parties in Rwanda. There are others that come up every now and then but have not achieved a high profile. RPF is the majority party because it won the most votes in the presidential and parliamentary elections.

However, according to our constitution, regardless of the number of seats a party holds it cannot constitute more than half of Cabinet.

Every political party that gets 5 per cent of the national vote is entitled to a seat in parliament. That does not mean that Cabinet appointments are restricted to members of political parties.

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You may be appointed to serve in Cabinet even if you are not a member of a political party. And this applies for other appointments such as governors and ambassadors.

What is PSD’s share of appointments today?

We don’t look at Cabinet alone. In 2003 we had the president of the Chamber of Deputies (Lower House) who later became president of the senate.

Until 2008 I was a member of Cabinet; later I became vice-president of the chamber of deputies. and today I am president of the senate.

We have a governor, ministers and ambassadors. If you focus only on Cabinet you miss the extent of power sharing. The 2008 elections grew our representation in the Chamber of Deputies to 11 out of 80, and four in the senate out of 26.

We hold one governor’s seat out of five and three positions in a Cabinet of 18. What is important is the contribution we make and that the principle of reconciliation and inclusion is respected regardless of whether the nominee is a member of our party or not.

Who nominates the appointees?

The Cabinet is the appointing authority for some positions, under the leadership of the President. If you want to nominate a governor, there is a consultation at that level. We are always consulted as PSD.

There have been suggestions that your parties do not represent a genuine challenge to the RPF?
In 2003 we did not field a presidential candidate because we were just building our capacity. However, we decided to go it alone in the parliamentary elections and won seven seats in the Chamber of Deputies and two in the senate. 

We did not enter any coalition because we wanted this country to be run on the basis of a democracy in which there was competition for power.

Since the politics in Rwanda is not played out on the streets, where do you settle disputes when you have differences as political parties?

Decisions of Cabinet are arrived at by consensus so you have to make a case and convince others of your view of a policy. The quarrels go to parliament. There you can argue about issues related to policies or implementation of laws.

What is the role of the Political Parties Forum?

The Political Parties Forum was intended to create a framework where politicians can sit and discuss issues regardless of whether they are represented in parliament or not. It is a consultative forum that gives a voice to political opinion and everybody gets a chance to shape the national dialogue.

Though it is often misunderstood, it allows political parties that are not participating in the executive or legislature to make a contribution.

Many times ministers who want to present a draft bill or propose a new law, first present it to the forum for input before they proceed to parliament.

The PPF presidency is rotational, and the forum is headed by an executive secretary who has a three-year tenure. It meets at least twice every six months.

The case for a Government of National Unity is clear, but how do you as a participating political organisation claim credit for the successes and apportion blame a for the failures of government?

The concept of a ruling party and opposition is outdated. Taking into account our history and where we want this country to go, we reject the idea of adversary politics.

African leaders might want to consider our blend of democracy because democracy and competition for power should not derail important national goals or undo what has been achieved. That is why you will not see demonstrations or strikes here because we are focused on a common goal.

That aside, we have a manifesto; as PSD we fight for social equity among Rwandan people.

Isn’t that what any political party would put in its manifesto?

I don’t have a problem with anyone sharing my ideas as long as they are on record in my manifesto.

And you cannot claim credit for the successes of government unless you are the party leading that government, so we remain satisfied that by our policies getting implemented, Rwandans benefit. We are a party that has made significant contribution to the development of Rwanda.

What particular policies can you claim credit for?

The abolition of the death penalty had been on our manifesto from 1991 until it was abolished. The much acclaimed community insurance scheme has been a pillar in our manifesto from 1991, as well as education for all. 

In 1991, we were arguing that if someone was earning only 30,000 Rwandan francs what was there to tax? Somebody could later claim this was also their idea, except that there is a difference in approach. Nobody is going to reinvent the wheel for no reason.

Given that almost everything done in Rwanda today is dictated by the country’s history, would PSD have approached the country’s challenges differently from RPF?

Our generation and the next cannot avoid our history and will be burdened by it. None of the current class of political leaders in Rwanda is responsible for what went wrong, but we are all living with the consequences of past wrongs.

What we need to do is build a strong foundation that will free our children and future generations from the unfortunate consequences of our history. Nobody can or should judge Rwanda without taking into account the history of this country.

History comes with lessons and fears. How does Rwanda avoid becoming hostage to the ghosts of its past, especially in areas such as freedom of expression?

I don’t recall a situation where I could not voice my opinion. I’m free and nobody is going to ask me why I have spoken to you.

But only as a Rwandan and not as a leader; I have to be mindful and cannot promote ideologies that divide or have the potential to divide the Rwandan society. For us not to be prisoners of fear or the past, we first need to understand the vision of this country.

There is media freedom as seen from the many outlets we have, but I would expect them to check and report our failures as leaders, based on facts.