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Raila now rocks talks boat with fresh demands

Wednesday, April 5th, 2023 05:16 | By
Raila calls off anti-government demos
Raila Odinga speaking in Gem, Siaya county on Friday, March 31, 2023. Photo/Facebook/The ODM Party

Azimio leader Raila Odinga has made fresh demands that risk rocking the bipartisan talks promise barely two days after he said he was willing to consider the proposals made by President William Ruto on how to resolve their political differences.

Yesterday, Raila warned if the ruling Kenya Kwanza fails to demonstrate seriousness in moving the talks forward, he would rally his supporters back to the streets as soon as next week.

The Azimio leader has demanded a broad process of talks similar to the 2008 negotiations led by the then chief mediator Kofi Annan and which culminated in the signing of a peace accord between the then President Kibaki and Raila. Under the accord, the two leaders formed a grand coalition government and Kibaki appointed Raila Prime Minister.

“Our suggestion is to have a conversation at the national level through a process a kin to the 2008 National Accord,” said Raila, a position that was supported by a statement from Azimio which said: “It is the resolution of this meeting that a purely parliamentary process may not serve the intended ends. Our suggestion is to have a conversation at the national level through a process akin to the 2008 National Accord.”

Such a process will involve more voices outside Parliament, after which the agreements reached on the key issues Azimio has raised will be ratified in the House in the form of an accord.

Among the issues that the coalition has raised include immediate reduction of the cost of living — including ensuring maize flour retails at Sh100 per 2kg packet — reducing the cost of fuel and power, audit of the presidential election servers and reform and reconstitution of the electoral commission. It has also demanded that the ruling coalition respect the spirit and letter of multiparty democracy in Parliament.

Whereas Ruto on Sunday said he was open to talks on how to pick new IEBC bosses, he said the matter of election results was settled by the Supreme Court — meaning he was not willing to revisit the issue or have it as an agenda in the proposed talks. Yesterday, while addressing journalists in Kigali Rwanda, he ruled out any possibility of a “handshake”. 

And where Ruto had suggested that the issues that Azimio has raised be resolved through a process in Parliament, Raila yesterday declared that such a process may not result in the intended outcome.

Raila threatened to call off the “ceasefire” he had offered on Sunday and “return to the trenches” as early as next week if the demands are not taken seriously.

“To this end, the coalition demands a process that proposes a team from its ranks both in Parliament and outside,” said Raila who has been leading demonstrations that threatened to boil over before the truce.

Such a team will have seven members from each side of the political divide, if Azimio’s proposal is accepted.

Public anxiety

Raila was also categorical that the statement the President made on a bipartisan Parliamentary talks, fell short of the issues the two sides had allegedly agreed on before Azimio called off protests.

“We will go back to trenches and this can be as early as next week,” he said. “Should there be no meaningful engagement or response from Ruto to our counter-offer, we are set to resume our demonstrations after one week”.

If Azimio goes ahead with the plan, it could lead to a period of public anxiety,  confrontations between protesters and police and a slow down in economic activity, a scenario the government is keen to avoid.

On Sunday, Ruto said he would set in motion a process for bipartisan talks in Parliament, even as he said there would be no “handshake” between him and Raila. 

Instead, he said that the parliamentary leadership from both sides would work closely in matters legislation without either party resorting to numbers while putting matters to the vote.

“There will be engagement in Parliament between the two sides and the process has already started,” Ruto told a press conference in Kigali Rwanda yesterday.

Ruto defended his election, saying it was carried out transparently, results published for and validated by the Supreme Court.

“We have a government and opposition. We don’t want democracy to be undermined. Kenyans want a democracy where the system of checks and balances works,” Ruto said. “We will not get into any unconstitutional political agreement with the opposition.”

Asked by a South African journalist if there would be one, he said; “Will there be a handshake? There will be no handshake but there will be an engagement in Parliament. Whatever can be resolved will be resolved.”

Earlier in the day, National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi had expressed fears that the opposition could be duped into bipartisan talks in Parliament only for Kenya Kwanza to take advantage of its numbers to shoot down critical issues raised by Azimio.

He insisted that both sides of the political divide must first agree on the contentious issues outside Parliament before taking such resolutions to the House. “We must agree on the rules of engagement outside before we proceed to the floor of the House on how we will pass the Bills agreed upon,’’ he said.

As things stand, Kenya Kwanza has control of both Houses.  “It means if the Opposition proceeds with speed to Parliament and the issues brought to vote, Azimio will lose. It’s the reason we insist that first, let’s create structures outside Parliament.”

However, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi reiterated that Azimio demands must follow parliamentary procedures and meet all constitutional requirements for them to be legally binding.

“We must adhere to the tenets of the Constitution if we are to archive whatever we want to,” Mudavadi said in Nyeri.

The composition of IEBC has been one of the demands by the Azimio leadership.

A panel to select new commissioners was today expected to publish names of candidates. This would have, in turn, triggered the process of interviewing the candidates, shortlisting and conducting background checks and public participation on. That process now hangs in the balance.

“Considering the matters raised on this particular subject, I suggest a bipartisan engagement in Parliament on the reconstitution of the IEBC panel within the parameters of the law and the constitution,” Ruto had said on Sunday, signaling that the work of the panel chaired by Nelson Makanda could be reconstituted.

Hold hostage

Ruto assented into law the IEBC Act in January. It proposes the expansion of the selection panel to include two slots for the Parliamentary Service Commission and the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya, one slot for the Public Service Commission and another slot each for the Political Parties Liaison Committee and the Law Society of Kenya.

Raila, however, accused Ruto of attempting to influence the recruitment of commissioners. Ruto had last month declined to halt the process of recruiting new commissioners, saying he followed the law while forming the recruitment panel.

And in a new twist, the President’s party, UDA, last night accused Raila of not being genuine in his demands. Party Secretary-General Cleophas Malala said the statement made by Raila was meant to hold talks hostage.

“Formation of any body, not legally recognised by the Constitution or statute law amounts to living in utopia and broad daylight hallucination,” Malala said. “We want to state that, we as a party, shall not accept any process that is outside the purview of the Constitution or offends the law as established.”

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