Government (Rwanda)
===================


     Long-form name:
         Republic of Rwanda
     Type:
         republic; presidential system in which military leaders hold key offices; on
         31 December 1990, the government announced a National Political Charter to
         serve as a basis for transition to a presidential/parliamentary political
         system; the 1978 constitution was replaced in June 1991 via popular
         referendum by a new constitution creating a multiparty system with a
         president and prime minister
     Capital:
         Kigali
     Administrative divisions:
         10 prefectures (prefectures, singular - prefecture in French; plural - NA,
         singular - prefegitura in Kinyarwanda); Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro,
         Gisenyi, Gitarama, Kibungo, Kibuye, Rigali, Ruhengeri
     Independence:
         1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration)
     Constitution:
         18 June 1991
     Legal system:
         based on German and Belgian civil law systems and customary law; judicial
         review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory
         ICJ jurisdiction
     National holiday:
         Independence Day, 1 July (1962)
     Executive branch:
         president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
     Legislative branch:
         unicameral National Development Council (Conseil National de Developpement)
     Judicial branch:
         Constitutional Court (consists of the Court of Cassation and the Council of
         State in joint session)
     Leaders:
       Chief of State:
         President Maj. Gen. Juvenal HABYARIMANA (since 5 July 1973)
       Head of Government:
         Prime Minister Sylvestre NSANZIMANA (since NA October 1991)
     Political parties and leaders:
         Republican Revolutionary Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND), Maj.
         Gen. Juvenal HABYARIMANA; formerly a one-party state, Rwanda legalized
         independent parties in mid-1991; since then, at least 10 new political
         parties have registered; President HABYARIMANA's political movement - the
         National Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND) - reorganized itself
         as a political party and changed its name to the Republican National
         Movement for Democracy and Development (but kept the same initials - MRND);
         significant independent parties include: Democratic Republican Movement
         (MDR), leader NA; Liberal Party (PL), leader NA; Democratic and Socialist
         Party (PSD), leader NA; note - since October 1990, Rwanda has been involved
         in a low-intensity conflict with the Rwandan Patriotic Front/Rwandan
         Patriotic Army (RPF/RPA); the RPF/RPA is primarily an ethnically based
         organization
     Suffrage:
         universal adult, exact age NA
     Elections:
       President:
         last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held NA December 1993); results -
         President Maj. Gen. Juvenal HABYARIMANA reelected