KIGALI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) on Friday announced it will carry out countrywide primaries starting Saturday to pick party flag bearers ahead of the presidential and parliamentary election in July.
Party nominees "will be chosen from the village level up to the national level," over three weeks, Wellars Gasamagera, the party's secretary general told a news conference in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
Gasamagera expressed optimism that the election will be smooth with a sound turnout throughout the country, urging voters to consider nominees with the capacity to implement the yet-to-be-unveiled party's manifesto.
"It is the right time to choose the right candidates. It requires all party members' participation," he said.
The final list of candidates will be endorsed by the party's general assembly in March, according to the party.
Nominations for the positions of president and members of the lower chamber of deputies will be held from May 17-30, according to a road map released by Rwanda's National Electoral Commission this week. Presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on July 15. ■
