At stake in this Referendum:

• The referendum will ask voters to approve a 204-article draft constitution.

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Paul KAGAME*
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Bernard MAKUZA
• Assembly: Rwanda has a unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) with 53 seats.**

* Under the new constitution, the president is elected by direct universal suffrage with a simple majority of the vote cast to serve a term renewable one time only.

** Under the new constitution, members of the Chamber of Deputies will be elected by direct universal suffrage using a system of proportional representation on September 29. They will serve a five-year term. The members of the Senate will be elected through indirect elections and will serve up to 8 years.

Main provisions in the Referendum:

• The referendum asked voters to approve a 204-article draft constitution to replace the current 1995 Fundamental Law.
  • One provision states that the president and prime minister cannot belong to the same political party.
  • Another provision calls for the creation of a bicameral parliament which consists of an 80-seat Chamber of Deputies and a 26-seat Senate. Chamber members can serve a term of 5 years, while Senate members can serve up to 8 years.
  • The draft constitution stipulates that a president would be elected via universal suffrage to serve seven-year terms.
  • Another provision would forbid political parties from utilizing ethnic, racial, tribal or other criteria that could promote discrimination.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 8,686,469 (2003)
• Registered Voters: 3,863,965 (2003)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 4,534,532 (2003)

·         Is Rwanda a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (1 May 1980)

·         Has Rwanda ratified CEDAW: Yes(2 March 1981)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: N/A

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: N/A

·         Human Development Index Position: 163 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Rwanda a signatory to CRPD: No

·         Has Rwanda ratified CRPD: Yes, accession (15 December 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 1,302,970 (est.)