Votes are being counted in the Rwandan presidential election, with incumbent¹ Paul Kagame widely predicted to win a landslide² victory.

卢旺达总统选举已进入计票阶段，很多人预言现任总统保罗·卡加梅将赢得压倒性胜利。

Mr Kagame's supporters say he has brought both stability and steady economic growth since the country's genocide in 1994.

His critics accuse him of suppressing（镇压，禁止） opposition³ and undermining（暗中破坏） democracy.

This is only the second presidential election since 1994, and five million Rwandans are registered to vote.

Mr Kagame won the 2003 election with 95% of the vote.

On Monday, voting began promptly⁴ at 0600 local time (0400 GMT) and the polls closed at 1500 (1300 GMT).

It is a sign of the level of efficiency in Rwanda that polls were able to close by mid-afternoon as scheduled, the BBC's Will Ross reports from Kigali.

People had queued from before dawn and the electoral commission said turnout was high. Governing party officials said preliminary results could be released on Monday evening.

'Very democratic'

Mr Kagame faced three rivals in the election, all with links to the president's all-powerful, Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic⁵ Front (RPF).

This has led some opponents to denounce（谴责，告发） the election as a charade⁶（看手势猜字谜游戏） .

But casting his vote in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, Mr Kagame said he saw no problem with the way the vote had been conducted.

"The turnout has been huge in the last three weeks," he said.

"When I have seen how they have expressed themselves, the people of Rwanda, and all that has been done and said by the people of Rwanda, it has given the impression to me that the process has been very democratic."

One of the other candidates in the vote, Prosper⁷ Higiro, said his party was prepared to accept the result of the vote.

"If we deem that the process was fair, we are going to accept the results," he said.