LIBERAL PARTY ORIGINS, VIOLENCE OF 1990S, AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIGALI 000812 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/2/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM RW SUBJECT: LIBERAL PARTY ORIGINS, VIOLENCE OF 1990S, AND STATUS TODAY KIGALI 00000812 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador W. Stuart Symington for reasons 1.4 (b) (d) ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Minister of Youth Protais Mitali, leader of the Liberal Party (PL),said on November 19 that his party seeks to promote justice, human rights and economic development by developing policy ideas and attempting to convince other political figures of their merits. As head of a party that was torn apart during the violent ethnic and regional identity politics and genocide of the early 1990s, Mitali emphasized the importance of national unity and provision of justice. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) During a November 19 meeting with Ambassador and polcouns, Liberal Party (PL) president Protais Mitali described his party's origins and current status. (Note: Mitali is Rwanda's Minister of Youth. End Note.) ¶3. (SBU) According to Mitali, the PL was one of the first parties created in 1991 when the then-government legalized multiparty politics. The only other parties at the time were the ruling MRND (National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development),the newly-formed Social Democratic Party (PSD),and the resurrected Democratic Republican Movement (MDR). The PL attracted supporters throughout Rwanda except in the northwest, the traditional home turf of the MRND and then-president Habyarimana. MRND leaders were surprised when, after they liberalized the political system, new parties sprang up so quickly. In reality, the MRND's base was narrow, and the regime was fragile. It had solid support in only two of Rwanda's ten prefectures; people from elsewhere resented having been excluded from power under Habyarimana. In the early 1990s, faced with this situation, the MRND began to promote racist "Hutu Power" ideology, deliberately fanning ethnic tensions between Hutu and Tutsi in order to unite the country under its own rule and undermine other parties. At the time, most PL supporters were Hutus, and Hutus held three of the party's top five leadership positions. (Note: The brother of current Minister of Information Louise Mushikiwabo, was a founding member of the Liberal Party and served as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in Habyarimana's transitional government before he was killed in the genocide. End Note). ¶4. (SBU) The "Hutu Power" tactic bore fruit especially after the August 1993 signing of the Arusha accords. (Note: This was a power-sharing agreement between the then-government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) that was to end the civil war and establish a transitional government. End Note.) In the PL's case, the party chairman denounced the accords as "unworkable" and the party began to split. In late 1993, when Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) officials arrived in Kigali to help form the transitional government, the PL and other parties were in the process of designating members of the new transitional parliament. By this time, the PL had split into two factions, one Hutu and one Tutsi; the former included in its list of proposed parliamentarians several members of the extremist party, the Committee for the Defense of the Republic (CDR). The chief justice refused to swear in any MPs, citing fraud, and also refused to swear in any members of the CDR, which was not a signatory to the Arusha accords. In the end, the 1994 genocide interrupted this process, and no MPs were sworn in until after the fighting ended. Qno MPs were sworn in until after the fighting ended. ¶5. (SBU) By late 1994, all of the PL's senior leaders were dead. The RPF, having defeated the former government and the genocidaires, asked Rwanda's other political parties to form a new transitional government based on the Arusha accords, the 1991 constitution and an additional protocol (NFI). The transitional parliament, which began to operate in November 1994, consisted of 13 seats apiece for the RPF, PSD, PL and MDR; 6 each for the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and the Army; and 2 each for the Islamic Democratic Party (PDI) and Rwandan Socialist Party (PSR). Except for the RPF and Army representatives, all of these parliamentarians "came from within Rwanda." ¶6. (SBU) In the early 1990s, the PL's two broad objectives were to fight against Habyarimana and the MRND, and to promote classical liberalism in the areas of justice, human rights and economic development. The PL's general philosophy today remains largely the same, focused on justice, freedom and economic development. Other parties have similar aims, Mitali noted, but the PL had held to these since its founding. The PL's overall goal today is to stabilize Rwanda by ensuring there is fair justice and by transforming "Hutus" and "Tutsis" into "Rwandans." To achieve this, the party has KIGALI 00000812 002.2 OF 002 established ten working groups, each looking at a different set of policy issues, and seeks to advance its views and ideas by sharing them with other parties (through the Political Party Forum),in parliament and in the cabinet. Rwanda is different from other countries because of its recent history of conflict and genocide, Mitali explained, adding that "we need to be very, very careful" with words and actions that could could have unintended consequences. Organizationally, the PL is present in all of Rwanda's 416 sectors, and plans to establish a presence in all of Rwanda's 3000-plus "imidugudu" or villages. (Note: In government, aside from Mitali's position as minister of youth, the PL holds one of 26 seats in the senate and four of 53 seats in the lower chamber of parliament. End Note.) ¶7. (SBU) Bio Note: Mitali, a genocide survivor, was born in 1953 and grew up in Rwanda. He worked as a pharmacist's assistant until the early 1990s, and was a founding member of the PL. He reportedly joined the Rwandan Patriotic Army for several months in 1994. Mitali was a PL member of parliament from 1994 until 2003, minister of state for foreign affairs from approximately 2003-2006, then minister of trade and investment until 2008, when he became minister of youth. COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) The PL is one of the oldest political parties in Rwanda and has participated continuously in government since ¶1994. Many in Rwanda view it as the Tutsi genocide survivors' party, and RPF cadres reportedly respect the PL for this. Organizationally, though not as strong as the RPF, for its size the PL does contain some political talent and intellectual candlepower, including Mitali, Senate vice president Prosper Higiro, Political Party Forum executive secretary Anicet Kayigema, and it does maintain a presence outside of Kigali, though perhaps not as extensive as Mitali suggested. END COMMENT. SYMINGTON