WOULD-BE OPPOSITION PARTY'S TAKEOFF STALLED BY

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000623 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KJUS RW SUBJECT: WOULD-BE OPPOSITION PARTY'S TAKEOFF STALLED BY BUREAUCRACY REF: A. KIGALI 78 ¶B. KIGALI 208 ¶C. KIGALI 335 ¶D. KIGALI 454 Classified By: CDA Anne Casper for reasons 1.4 (b) (d) ¶1. (C) Frank Habineza, leader of the newly-formed Democratic Green Party of Rwanda (DGPR),told polcouns October 2 that his party was canceling its initial party congress, set to take place in Kigali the same day, because a key state official had informed him late on October 1 that higher-level authorities (NFI) had not yet given her permission to witness the event and notarize signatures. The DGPR, launched in August, is still unregistered. (Note: The party congress and state notarization were necessary steps for the party to apply for registration. End Note.) Habineza expressed frustration, as it had cost his small party time, energy and money to organize and bring people in from all 30 of Rwanda's districts, but said the party was nonetheless going to cancel the congress, "otherwise the police would come." Separately, Minister of Justice Tharcisse Karugarama told CDA October 2 that the notary herself had refused to notarize the DGPR's documents because there were "mistranslations and other problems with the statutes," which have to be published in English, French and Kinyarwanda. "The first I heard of the problem was from the notary--I don't need to approve it," he said, referring to the documentation. (Note: Post has not yet seen the documents in question and previously understood that a party was only required to publish statutes in a single language. Notarization of the statutes and other documentation is a prerequisite for registration; ultimately, the process requires a vote of approval by the full cabinet. End Note.) ¶2. (C) COMMENT: Habineza is a former GOR civil servant who quit his membership in the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) and has criticized the RPF for not having remained true to its ideals--actions that have not endeared him to RPF leaders. Another recently-formed opposition party, the PS-Imberakuri, faced similar obstacles in its road to registration (reftels),but did receive government approval after many months and much perseverance. END COMMENT. CASPER