While he was in Rwanda, however, Reyntjens had been keen for a personal role in politics. In 1978, at the request of President Habyarimana, Reyntjens had helped draft a constitution for the Second Republic that had institutionalised the quota system in society, whereby a certain percentage of Tutsi had places in higher education and state employment. Reyntjens once told an interviewer he did not believe the quota system was rigorously enforced, that it was informal. He claimed the proportion of Tutsi in public, parastatal and private sector employment greatly exceeded the government quota.
