Cord plots response to Jubilee Party

Cord principals Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula are this week expected to unveil their strategy for winning the next General Election.

The detailed plan, according to Cord insiders, is meant to ensure that the coalition fields a single presidential candidate as well as accommodate new partners to recreate the 2007 Pentagon which campaigned for Mr Odinga round the country.

It also entails unveiling a constitution which details how the coalition partners will handle the party primaries to ensure that there is no fallout before elections.

The Sunday Nation has learnt that the Cord principals had already drafted the constitution of the proposed Cord party, which they intend to forward to the Registrar of Political Parties tomorrow for approval.

They will also forward the party’s nomination rules to the Registrar in the coming days.

The new party, according to head of the Cord Secretariat Norman Magaya, will have a lean National Executive Committee (NEC) and will only accommodate corporate members, meaning its membership will be from political parties and not individuals.

There will be a council of principals comprising Mr Odinga, Mr Musyoka and Mr Wetang’ula, but with room for the inclusion of leaders of any other party willing to join the coalition.

One of the new party’s key organs will be the Central Executive Council comprising representatives of all corporate members.

“We are looking to have each party nominate a maximum of two representatives who will sit in the committee. This committee will provide linkages between the parties,” Mr Magaya said.

Unlike the new Jubilee Party which has stated that it will invite Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to supervise their nominations, the Cord party will conduct its own nominations.

“It will be a new innovation which other parties will learn from,” he said without elaborating.

ODM Chairman John Mbadi and Cord Deputy Chief Whip Chris Wamalwa separately confirmed that plans were under way to form the new party.

JOINT NOMINATIONS
Mr Mbadi said that Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka have been holding talks on the issue and that the Cord Management Committee co-chaired by Senators James Orengo (Siaya), Johnson Muthama (Machakos) and Tongareni MP Eseli Simiyu, is working on the finer details of the new outfit.

Mr Mbadi and Dr Wamalwa, a key associate of Mr Wetang’ula’s, stated that the general consensus was that the new party becomes a corporate entity.

“We are pushing for a party that will allow only corporate membership. And I want to confirm that the registration formalities are at an advanced stage right now. We will launch soon,” said Mr Mbadi, the MP for Suba.

He said that the party was formed to avoid a situation where the coalition’s presidential candidate, say Mr Odinga, is forced to use the ODM symbol while campaigning as the Cord candidate, ending up confusing voters.

The question of how nominations will be conducted, Mr Mbadi said, was also still on the negotiating table but would be resolved “very soon”.

“Our suggestion as ODM is that we should conduct joint nominations and issue certificates under the name of the new party to the winners of the primaries. But the most important thing though is that the presidential candidate and his running mate will run on the new party’s ticket,” Mr Mbadi stated.

ODM, however, wants all affiliate parties to retain their identities even if they agree on joint nominations.

Ford Kenya, on its part, wants individual parties to conduct their own primaries, with an exception being made for the posts of president and Nairobi governor.

Deputy Party Leader Boni Khalwale said that whereas the party was in support of the new corporate party fielding a single presidential candidate, it was proposing that a position be reserved for the third principal who may miss out on the positions of presidential candidate and running mate.

“Besides that, we want the affiliate parties to conduct their separate nominations save for Nairobi where we should field a joint candidate, he added.

THIRD SLOT

Ford Kenya’s proposal is aimed at averting a situation where strong candidates from the coalition partners are forced to square it out during the primaries for the single Cord ticket.

That situation is likely to occur in counties like Kakamega where Dr Khalwale is challenging Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, who is ODM’s Deputy Leader.

A similar case might be witnessed in Mombasa where Governor Ali Hassan Joho faces opposition from Wiper Secretary-General Hassan Omar.

Dr Khalwale’s position was reiterated by Dr Wamalwa.

“We in Ford Kenya support the registration of Cord as a corporate political party using the Narc model but this has to be ratified by our party,” Dr Wamalwa said.

He further said: “As Ford Kenya we do support negotiated joint nominations based on mapping with the sole objective of beating Jubilee.”

Dr Wamalwa dismissed claims that Ford Kenya is dragging its feet on the formation of the Cord party.

“As a party we are committed to the ideals of Cord through a participatory and consultative approach. We also want to assure our members that we shall conduct free and fair nominations,” he said.

He added that Ford Kenya will be proposing that a third slot be created for whichever of the principals who misses out on either becoming the presidential flagbearer or running mate.

Some Ford Kenya MPs are, however, opposed to the call for joint nominations fearing they may be locked out.