National Revolutionary Movement for Development

The party was established by Habyarimana on 5 July 1975, exactly two years after he had ousted the first post-independence president Grégoire Kayibanda in a ''coup d'état''. Habyarimana established a totalitarian state and banned the Parmehutu party, which had been dominated by Hutus from southern Rwanda. The MRND replaced Parmehutu as the sole legally permitted party in Rwanda. A new constitution was approved in a 1978 referendum. It codified the MRND's status as the only legal party, and declared that every Rwandan citizen was automatically a member of the MRND. Presidential elections were held in 1978 with Habyarimana as the sole candidate. He was re-elected with 99% of the vote. Parliamentary elections followed in 1981, with two MRND candidates contesting each of the 64 seats. Habyarimana was re-elected again in 1983 and 1988, whilst parliamentary elections were held under the same system in 1983 (with the National Assembly enlarged to 70 seats) and 1988. The party's name was changed after the legalisation of opposition parties in 1991. The youth wing of the party, the interahamwe, later developed into a militia group that played a key role in the Genocide against Tutsi. ==Ideology==

Habyarimana was described as relatively moderate, though he (and his regime) are said to have used propaganda methods, ethnically discriminating against the Tutsi (albeit less extreme than their predecessors), advanced a conservative social agenda and were anti-communist. ==Structure==

Habyarimana was the president of the party, and as such was the only candidate for president of the republic. However, in a minor concession to democracy, voters were presented with two MRND candidates at Legislative Assembly elections. == Electoral history ==

Presidential elections National Development Council elections == See also ==