LSK hesitant to give legal advice on IEBC quorum
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) said yesterday it had momentarily refrained from giving any legal opinion surrounding the question of the electoral commission quorum while declaring presidential results on Monday.
LSK President Eric Theuri said possibilities are that the matter could be a ‘live issue’ in court should an election petition be filed to contest the results.
“We would wish to, at this point, restrain from giving a legal commentary on it but in the event that a petition is filed in court, then LSK will be seeking to make its position known before the court to assist in its determination of that issue,” Theuri said.
According to Theuri, there have been one or two court decisions with regards to IEBC quorum and its effect on elections might be directly in issue since the window for filing a petition has not expired.
“We believe that in the event that anyone files a petition in court that the question of quorum or dissent, if any, by the four IEBC commissioners, its effect on the elections might be directly in issue,” Theuri explained.
He added: “Since the window for filing petition to challenge the results has not yet expired, as a society we cannot comment on it considering that it might become a live issue for determination before the courts,” Theuri explained.
In the event that no petition is filed to challenge the results, Theuri said the quorum issue is one of the areas LSK might be looking at as an area possibly for law reform.
He also said LSK would explore the matter if it does not come up in court for purposes of ensuring that in future, the country does not go through the kind of anxiety as a result of the four IEBC commissioners dissociating from the decision that was made from the declared results.
