Draft law: Raila and Kibaki lead separate talks

President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Monday held closed-door meetings of their parties to discuss the positions they will take on the revised draft constitution.

President Kibaki met Party of National Unity leaders in his Harambee House office while Mr Odinga hosted Orange Democratic Movement bigwigs at the Treasury Building.

The two groups were said to have analysed the draft presented to the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitution last Friday.

Common position

PSC has organised a retreat for its members on January 17 to discuss the document. ODM and PNU are meeting under the auspices of the Management Committee on Grand Coalition Affairs to agree on a common position ahead of the retreat. The PNU meeting, which started at 10am and ended at 1pm, was attended by among others, deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta, Cabinet ministers Moses Wetang’ula and Mutula Kilonzo and assistant ministers Peter Munya, David Musila and Mwangi Kiunjuri and Kaloleni MP Kambi Kazungu.

The ODM meeting, which started a few minutes after 11am, ended at 2pm. It was attended by deputy PM Musalia Mudavadi, Cabinet ministers William Ruto, Charity Ngilu, Sally Kosgei, James Orengo, assistant ministers Joseph Nkaissery and MPs Ababu Namwamba and Chachu Ganya. All leaders who attended the two meetings are members of the PSC.

Those who attended the ODM meeting, speaking on condition they should not be named because the discussions were confidential, were cautious, saying, they found some provisions of the original Bill had been watered down. The group will meet again on Tuesday and Wednesday to take positions “on the many issues which have come up” before the management committee meets on Thursday.

Those at the meeting said the party favoured a PM with executive powers under a parliamentary system of government. However, they said they would go to the coalition meeting with an “open mind, ready to negotiate”. They also said they wanted the functions, powers and responsibilities of the office of the PM and those of the President spelt out clearly to avoid role conflict.

They also warned against directly transforming the current local authorities into devolved units. The ODM leaders also preferred the staggered implementation of the new constitution until it is fully completed by 2012. They were, however, divided on whether two drafts should be taken to the referendum.

Those at the PNU meeting said their party wanted two drafts at the referendum for “yes-yes” vote. PNU also wants the law on review amended to dissolve the Committee of Experts, which has been in charge of writing the draft.

Party positions

“The party believes that the experts have finished their work and the remaining work should be left to the PSC through amendments to the law,” a PNU source, who asked not to be named discussing the party position at this time, said. Interviews with various people at the meeting showed that PNU favoured an executive with one centre of power.

The CoE has proposed a “hybrid” system with power shared by a president and prime minister. The PNU source said their party would only accept a hybrid system if it followed the Tanzanian model. In Tanzania, the president is the Head of State and Government and appoints a PM who is leader of government in Parliament.

On the legislature, the sources said their party was opposed to the creation of a Senate, but said the matter was still being discussed. They said they will push for members of the National Assembly to be elected. They want a 400-seat Parliament with 300 MPs directly elected and 100 proposed by parties. The seat will then be shared through mixed member proportion using party lists with women getting 60 seats.

PNU will also use the retreat to push for all boundaries to be based on a one-man-one-vote system. However, the party wants the equality of votes principle to allow for a 10 per cent deviation in areas larger than 9,000 square kilometres. According to PNU, this formula will lead to the creation of four extra parliamentary seats in North Eastern and four in Turkana.

The party also said an initial evaluation by its experts showed that Central Province will lose two seats. The sources said PNU wants the new constitution to come into effect after the 2012 election and any changes before then to be effected by changing the existing Constitution.

They said their party opposes the proposed supreme court and constitutional court created before the election. It also opposes a new provision extending the term of the Interim Independent Commission (IIEC).

In the revised draft, the Committee of Experts has indicated that the IIEC “shall stand dissolved six months after the first election” under the new constitution.

This is contrary to the section in the current Constitution establishing the IIEC, which says it will be dissolved three months after the enactment of the new constitution. The PNU sources said their party was particularly opposed to a clause in the revised draft, which states:

“When members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission are selected, regard shall be had to the need for continuity and the retention of experience.”

The draft proposes that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission should be the new body to handle elections and boundary issues. PSC chairman Mohammed Abdikadir said 26 MPs will be in Naivasha for a week to discuss the draft and hopefully strike an agreement.

Tabled in Parliament

The PSC is expected to reach consensus in the next 21 days before the document is tabled in Parliament. Central to the discussions will be what kind of executive power structure the country should adopt.

The Grand Coalition Management Committee co-chaired by deputy prime ministers Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi who also sit in the PSC will be pushing for the adoption of a hybrid system. This is despite the coalition partners having taken divergent views on the issue.