Rwanda's ruling party the Rwanda Patriotic Front (FPR) has won a majority in parliamentary elections, preliminary results have revealed.

The FPR won 42 out of 53 seats up for grabs in Monday's direct vote, the electoral commission said.

The Social Democratic Party won seven seats and the Liberal Party four.

Overseas votes have still to be counted before the result can be finalized.

The commission said final results are not expected until September 25.

Some 24 female members of parliament were voted in by provincial and city councils on Tuesday, although results are not yet available. Youth and disabled representatives are due to be elected Wednesday and Thursday.

A European Union observer mission is expected to give its opinion on the elections later on Wednesday.

The Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party both support the FPR, but opposition groups in exile have said that elections "amount to a smokescreen."

The poll is the second parliamentary election since 1994, when the Hutu militia and military massacred 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the space of a few months.

Tutsi-dominated forces led by Kagame ended the slaughter.

Presidential and parliamentary elections in 2003 - the first since a transitional government took power in 1994 - drew fire for being unfair.

Kagame won the presidency with over 95 per cent of the vote, and an FPR-led coalition easily won the parliamentary elections.

However, opposition parties were banned until just before the elections, and bodies such as Amnesty International said opposition politicians faced a campaign of "political pressure, violence and intimidation."

Kagame's supporters say he has helped Rwanda to stability and firm economic growth through reform, while opponents are critical of his authoritarian style.