PNU planning deal on new law

The Party of National Unity is working on a new strategy that would see it and the Orange Democratic Movement strike a deal on thorny issues in the draft constitution, party insiders have said.

A series of meetings were held on Sunday as the Grand Coalition partners sought common ground on sticky issues in the proposed law.

The President’s advisors and top PNU strategists are said to have called on party MPs to drop their hardline approach and support the draft in its current form.

A memo from the strategists to Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Mutula Kilonzo asked him to convene the party’s parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday to lobby MPs to support the draft without any amendments.

Strategist

The memo cited talks between President Kibaki’s advisor on constitutional matters, Prof Kivutha Kibwana, PNU strategist Moses Kuria and the coalition’s chief whip, Mr George Thuo, on the position the party ought to adopt on the draft constitution once it is tabled in Parliament.

Prof Kibwana declined to comment on the details of the memo written by Mr Kuria but maintained that the President was determined to have the draft constitution sail through Parliament without any hitches. “In his speech in Eldoret, the President was very direct that the country must get a new constitution. Each of the coalition partners wants this constitution passed,” said Prof Kibwana.

Another PNU strategist, Mr Justin Muturi, expressed optimism that a consensus would be reached across the political divide before Tuesday.

A top government official familiar with President Kibaki’s diary said the Head of State had called a meeting on Monday morning to urge parliamentarians from both ODM and PNU to supporting the draft constitution when it is tabled for debate on Tuesday. The Nation could not immediately confirm if President Kibaki would meet with Prime Minister Raila Odinga as part of the ongoing consultations.

The director of communications at the PM’s office, Mr Dennis Onyango, appeared unaware of the meeting. “Mr Odinga will be in Mombasa to open a conference of engineers from across Africa,” he told the Nation. The President’s function will be among a flurry of meetings planned for Monday and Tuesday to ensure the document sails through the House.

MPs from across the political divide are also expected to meet at County Hall on Monday morning to push for a consensus on contentious clauses so that it becomes easy for them to get the two-thirds majority needed to change any clause in the draft.

The chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on the constitution review, Mr Abdikadir Mohammed, is expected to initiate debate on the draft constitution in Parliament on Tuesday afternoon. The debate will go on for 30 days but MPs seeking to change any clause in the document will need to raise two-thirds of the total number of lawmakers to support amendment.

PNU has been lobbying to have the document handed over to the Parliamentary Select Committee by the Committee of Experts revised to change some of the provisions on representation, legislature, devolution and transition. ODM, on the other hand, is pushing for Parliament to pass the document without any changes.