Rwandans vote for new parliament

Rwandans began voting Monday in a parliamentary election that is expected to extend the rule of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in the small central African country where opposition movements say their voices are being stifled, dpa reported. Some polling stations remained open beyond the official 3 pm (1300 GMT) closing time owing to long queues, the electoral commission said. Voting is taking place over three days. Eighty seats are up for grabs, with 53 directly contested on Monday and the rest reserved for women, youth and the disabled in separate polling over the coming two days. "We didn't experience any violence. Most polling stations did not close on time because of the long lines," said Kalisa Mbanda, the chairman of the electoral commission. The RPF came to power in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide of more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The country has seen robusat economic growth under President Paul Kagame but the opposition has warned that one party rule is slowly being cemented in the country of 11.5 million people. The economy has doubled in size in the last decade and is set to expand at about 7.5 per cent this year, according to institutions such as the International Monetary Fund. Results are expected later this week.