The Rwandan Patriotic Front, the country’s ruling party, has said it is backing a constitutional change that will pave the way for President Paul Kagame to seek third term in office.

“Based on the wishes of Rwandans and party members that have been recently expressed, we support that the (constitution) should be amended,” a communiqué released by the party read.

It is reported that 3.6 million people out of the country’s 11.8 million people have signed a petition supporting the change, even though there are allegations that many were coerced into signing the petition. “If the allegations that some people have been forced are true, that’s a concern and you should also have that concern,” the president told members of his party, adding that no one should be forced to sign the petition.

Kagame is in his second and final tenue of seven years currently allowed by the constitution, having been re-elected by a landslide in 2010, and he has said he is open to the change, though he had in the past disagreed with calls for constitutional amendment.

With Burundi engulfed in violent protests following President Pierre Nkurunziza’s declaration that he would be seeking a third term in office, no such case is expected in Rwanda, where Kagame has been praised for restoring the country to good health after the genocide of 1994, which claimed about 800, 000 lives.