Editing Juvénal Habyarimana
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On July 5, 1973, while serving as Army Chief of Staff, Habyarimana seized power in a ''coup d'état'' against the incumbent President [[Grégoire Kayibanda]] and ousting Kayibanda's ruling [[Parmehutu]] party. In 1975, he created the [[MRND]] as the country's only legal party. The government stayed almost entirely in military hands until 1978, when a new constitution was approved in a referendum. At the same time, Habyarimana was elected to a five-year term as president. He was reelected in single-candidate elections in 1983 and 1988. | On July 5, 1973, while serving as Army Chief of Staff, Habyarimana seized power in a ''coup d'état'' against the incumbent President [[Grégoire Kayibanda]] and ousting Kayibanda's ruling [[Parmehutu]] party. In 1975, he created the [[MRND]] as the country's only legal party. The government stayed almost entirely in military hands until 1978, when a new constitution was approved in a referendum. At the same time, Habyarimana was elected to a five-year term as president. He was reelected in single-candidate elections in 1983 and 1988. | ||
Habyarimana was a dictator, and electoral fraud was suspected for his unopposed re-elections: 98.99% of the vote on 24 December 1978, 99.97% of the vote on 19 December 1983, and 99.98% of the vote on 19 December 1988 | Habyarimana was a dictator, and electoral fraud was suspected for his unopposed re-elections: 98.99% of the vote on 24 December 1978, 99.97% of the vote on 19 December 1983, and 99.98% of the vote on 19 December 1988. During his rule, Rwanda became a [[fascist]] totalitarian order in which his MRND-party enforcers required people to chant and dance in adulation of the President at mass pageants of political "animation". While the country as a whole had become slightly less impoverished during Habyarimana's tenure, the great majority of Rwandans remained in circumstances of extreme poverty. | ||
A Hutu himself, he initially won favor among both Hutu and Tutsi groups given his administration's reluctance to implement policies that catered to his primarily Hutu supporters. This restraint did not last and Habyarimana eventually began to oversee a government that mirrored the policies of Kayibanda. Quotas were once again applied to jobs for "universities and government services" which intentionally disadvantaged Tutsis. As Habyarimana continued to favor a smaller and smaller coterie of supporters, the more Hutu groups —slighted by the nation's leader— cooperated with Tutsis to weaken his leadership. | A Hutu himself, he initially won favor among both Hutu and Tutsi groups given his administration's reluctance to implement policies that catered to his primarily Hutu supporters. This restraint did not last and Habyarimana eventually began to oversee a government that mirrored the policies of Kayibanda. Quotas were once again applied to jobs for "universities and government services" which intentionally disadvantaged Tutsis. As Habyarimana continued to favor a smaller and smaller coterie of supporters, the more Hutu groups —slighted by the nation's leader— cooperated with Tutsis to weaken his leadership. | ||