In May, Kagame was officially endorsed as the RPF's candidate for the election at the party's national congress. Kagame then became the first candidate to be accepted when he presented his electoral papers in July. Three other candidates registered successfully for the election; they were Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo of the Social Democratic Party, Prosper Higiro of the Liberal Party, and Alvera Mukabaramba of the Party for Progress and Concord. Two other contenders failed to get official documents through and did not get accepted into the race. Human Rights Watch described Kagame's three opponents as "broadly supportive of the RPF", and claimed that most Rwandans would not describe them as "real" opposition, while those who criticised the RPF were barred from the election.