Chief whips reject MPs' party hopping bid

The government’s joint chief whips have rejected plans by some MPs to change the elections law to accommodate party hopping.

Mr Jakoyo Midiwo (ODM) and Johnstone Muthama (PNU) spoke strongly against intentions to suspend until after the General Election, provisions of the law that guide elections saying they would mobilise MPs to reject the proposals.

If the amendments proposed to the Political Parties Act by Gachoka MP Mutava Musyimi are passed by Parliament, MPs and councillors will comfortably defect to new parties without losing their seats.

Mr Musyimi wants laws that block MPs from being members of more than one party suspended until after the next elections.

He argues that the country is still hurting from the trauma of the 2007/2008 election violence and as such, the laws should not be applied when the country is in transition.

He says given that more than 50 per cent of MPs are involved directly and indirectly in joining and formation of other parties, the country cannot afford by-elections should the current laws be applied to force them to resign.

Mr Musyimi intends to push his amendments through the Miscellaneous Amendment Bill expected in the House this week, proposes the suspension of sub-sections 4, 5, and 7 of Section 14 of the Political Parties Act that regulate membership of parties.

The provisions say that members of a political party will lose their membership —and by extension their seats– if they form, join or participate in the formation of another party.

The law also provides that members of a party who publicly advocate formation of another, or promote another party’s ideology, interests or policy would be deemed to have resigned from their previous parties.

But speaking separately on Monday, Mr Midiwo and Mr Muthama described the amendments as self-serving, saying if passed, it would dent the image of Parliament and that of the MPs.

“This Parliament owes greater responsibility to the country and it must begin living within the laws that have been created,’’ said Mr Midiwo.

Mr Muthama asked his colleagues in Parliament to “lead from the front in obeying the laws.’’

“The laws we make are for all Kenyans including MPs. This is an obvious abuse of the law and we cannot change the law to suit our interests while justifying party hopping,’’ he said.

Chairman of the Constitutional Implementation Commission Charles Nyachae urged caution saying changes to any laws to implement the Constitution must reflect both the letter and spirit of the document.

A group calling itself Friends of Raila Lobby have moved to court to seeking to have seats of MPs associating with other parties be declared vacant.