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NAIROBI, Dec 19 (AFP) - Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana has asked Prime Minister Sylvestre Nsazimana to form a strong transitional government with representatives from all political parties, a month after three main opposition groups snubbed the premier.
According to state-run radio Rwanda, monitored here on Thursday, "Habyarimana asked Nsazimana to form a strong transitional government which will also include stalwarts from opposition parties", but it did not say when the new government would be formed.
In mid-October, leaders of Rwanda's three main opposition parties -- the Republican Democratic Movement, the Social Democrats and the Liberal Party -- refused to join in government formed by the premier, complaining that Habyarimana had appointed him without consulting them.
They also argued that no single party should hold both the presidency and the premiership, nor the defence and interior portfolios, the radio said.
This was a reference to Habyrimana's ruling National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MNRD), which ruled Rwanda for 18 years until last June when the country instituted constitutional changes allowing for multiparties.
Since then nine opposition political parties have been formed and approved in Rwanda.
str/lto/jbN AFP AFP SEQN-0094
