The RPF selected Kagame as its presidential candidate, to run for his first full term following his three-year transitional presidency. His main challenger was Faustin Twagiramungu, who had been prime minister from 1994 to 1995, when he resigned and moved to Brussels after a disagreement with Kagame. Twagiramungu had intended to run as the candidate for the MDR, but instead sought the presidency as an independent following the party's banishment. Twagiramungu returned to the country in June 2003 and began campaigning in August. Two other candidates also ran: Alvera Mukabaramba, a medical doctor and former MDR member running for the newly formed Party for Progress and Concord (PPC), and Jean Nepomuscene Nayinzira, an independent and former member of parliament who cited belief in God as a central part of his campaign. Mukabaramba pulled out one day before the election, accusing Twagiramungu of ethnic propaganda and advising her supporters to vote for Kagame. The election went ahead on 25 August with Kagame, Twagiramungu and Nayinzira as candidates.