Rwandese National Union

The Rwandese National Union (French: Union nationale rwandaise, UNAR) was a conservative, pro-monarchy political party in Rwanda.

Rwandese National Union

Union nationale rwandaise
AbbreviationUNAR
FounderFrancois Rukeba
Founded3 September 1959 (1959-09-03)
DissolvedDecember 1963
IdeologyConservatism
Monarchism

History

Union Nationale Rwandaise (Rwandese National Union), or UNAR, was a conservative Rwandan political party.[1] Founded on 3 September 1959,[2] by Francois Rukeba, and strongly supported by King Kigeri V. At the time, Rwanda was still under Belgian administration, and UNAR was the leading monarchist party. It called for immediate independence under a hereditary Tutsi constitutional monarchy.

The party boycotted the 1960 local elections,[3] but participated in the 1961 parliamentary elections, receiving 17% of the vote, winning 7 of the 44 seats in the Legislative Assembly. It joined a coalition government with the victorious Parmehutu, and was given the cabinet posts responsible for cattle and public health.[4]

The political party effectively ceased to exist in December 1963. In retaliation for an attack by the armed wing of UNAR, large numbers of Tutsis were killed, including many of the Tutsi leaders who has remained in Rwanda, marking the end of the internal UNAR party. Elements of the armed wing continued to carry out attacks until 1967.[5]

In 1965 the country became a one-party state under Parmehutu.[6]

References
  1. Gérard Prunier (1995). The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide. C. Hurst & Co. p. 47.
  2. Preben Kaarsholm, ed. (2006). Violence, political culture & development in Africa. James Currey Publishers. p. 81, n. 33. ISBN 0-85255-894-5.
  3. Mahmood Mamdani (2014) When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda, Princeton University Press, p127
  4. Mamdani, p128
  5. Uriel Rosenthal; Arjen Boin; Louise K. Comfort, eds. (2001). MANAGING CRISES. Charles C. Thomas Publishers. p. 92.
  6. History Embassy of Rwanda to the United Kingdom


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