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1957 Rwandan parliamentary election

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Indirect parliamentary elections were held in Rwanda in 1957.

Electoral system

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The Decree of 14 July 1952 by the Belgian authorities introduced an element of democracy to the Rwandan political system. A complicated electoral system was created, which involved seven stages of elections to eventually elect the National Superior Council (French: Conseil Superieur du Pays).[1] The system was modified from the 1953–54 elections with all men aged 18 or over able to vote for the Sub-Chiefdom Councils, as voting had previously been restricted to notables.[2]

Council Elected members Ex officio members Other members
Sub-Chiefdom Council 5–10 members elected by all men aged 18 and over Sub-chiefs
Chiefdom Council 10–18 members, 5–9 elected by sub-chiefs and 5–9 elected by notables Chiefs
Territorial Council Sub-chiefs elected from amongst their own and notables elected by Chiefdom Councils Chiefs
Superior Council 6 chiefs elected from their own number, 9 notables elected by Territorial Councils King, presidents of the Territorial Councils Up to 8 co-opted

Results

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The elections in the sub-chiefdoms were held in 1956, with elections to the Chiefdom Councils Territorial Councils and the Superior Council following in 1957.[3]

Council Members
Hutus Tutsis Total
Elected
chiefs
Elected
notables
Co-opted Elected
chiefs
Elected
notables
Ex officio Co-opted
Sub-chiefdom councils 0 2,261 0 0 1,292 603 0 4,160
Chiefdom councils 0 107 0 298 245 54 0 704
Territorial councils 0 21 0 46 71 46 0 184
Superior Council 0 0 1 6 9 10 7 33
Source: Sternberger et al.

References

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  1. ^ Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, p1699
  2. ^ Sternberger et al., p1698
  3. ^ Sternberger et al, p1725