Rwandan President Paul Kagame's ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) had taken an early lead in parliamentary elections, officials said today.
The electoral commission said the RPF together with four allied parties had won 75.3 per cent of votes counted so far in five of the country's 12 provinces and 13 of its 15 embassies.
The Social Democratic Party (PSD) was second with 11.7 per cent of the votes counted.
Officials put the voter turnout for the provinces and embassies where votes had been counted at 95.7 per cent.
"There were no cases of violence during polling day," said Mr Chrysologue Karangwa, the chairman of Rwanda's Electoral Commission. "Most people turned out to vote in the afternoon."
Critics had predicted a low voter turnout in the three-day polls, due to what they said was a lack of interest as none of the competing parties was considered a serious opposition force.
Mr Kagame, who began a seven-year term after he led RPF to a landslide win in presidential polls in August, yesterday predicted a huge win for his party in the assembly polls.
A Tutsi, Mr Kagami has run Rwanda since leading the rebel army that ended the 1994 genocide in which Hutu extremists killed some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.