All political parties fail to comply with nominations rules
A man looks at campaign posters in Eldoret on March 20, 2017. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
As a result, the electoral commission this week told parties to fine-tune their nomination rules.
The failures are not uniform and each political party or coalition is getting a letter listing its shortcomings.
In the preparation for the election in August, political parties are having problems.
The Nation has learnt that “all the 67 registered political parties and coalitions did not meet the threshold of the law”.
As a result, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission this week told parties to fine-tune their nomination rules.
The failures are not uniform and each political party or coalition is getting a letter listing its shortcomings.
“We lack clear communication from the commission. This has left parties guessing. Two, a clash in the 120-day membership list submission as required by the commission and the 45 days as envisaged in the Constitution has put parties in disarray as now most elected leaders belong to two parties,” the chairman of the Political Parties Liaison Committee, Philip Abuba, said.
He however admitted that the commission gave political parties a checklist to help in drafting their nomination rules.
He could not confirm or deny that political parties were also dragging their feet.
“Nomination rules are a fundamental premise to credible primaries in parties. In my view, this has no serious threat to the timelines as the commission must have factored this,” Mr Abuba said.
Mr Abuba said that parties not meeting the threshold did not pose a threat to the poll agency’s timelines. Committee secretary Petronilla Were said the polls team should also obey the legal timelines on the membership register.
“Parties’ nominations rules were submitted on time for all parties and any amendments to the rules will be within the timelines,” Ms Were said.
The key highlights that the polls team has emphasised are that party primaries and creation of party lists must adhere to democracy, fairness, inclusivity and transparency.
“Nominations must be organised and conducted in a manner that is realistic and implementable from a financial and logistical perspective,” the guidelines state.
According to the electoral team’s timelines, party nominations take place from April 13 to 26.
