Rwandans started voting around 04:00 GMT today in the biggest phase of the first multi-party legislative elections to be held in the country since the 1994 genocide and indeed since independence in 1962.

Voters will today choose 53 deputies for Rwanda's new Parliament through universal direct suffrage.

Each voter can choose either one of 17 independent candidates or one out of four party lists.

Those who opt for a list have a choice between a coalition loyal to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF, the former Tutsi rebellion that President Paul Kagame used to lead) and three other parties, all of whom backed Kagame during the presidential elections: the Liberal Party (PL, traditionally a Tutsi party before the genocide), the Social Democratic Party (PSD), headed by the former speaker of Parliament Vincent Biruta, and the Party for Progress and Concord (PPC), a newcomer.

Nineteen independent candidates were initially standing, but two were disqualified on Friday after being accused of fraud by the National Electoral Commission, the body supervising the elections.

Polling stations will close at 13:00 GMT and preliminary results are expected tomorrow morning.

Yesterday the first three deputies were elected - two youth representatives and one representative for handicapped people.

The remaining 24 deputies, together with 14 senators, will be elected on Thursday, the final day of the legislative elections.

These elections, which follow August's presidential elections won by Paul Kagame and the adoption by referendum in May of the new Constitution, mark the end of nine years of transitional government in Rwanda. – Sapa-AFP.