IEBC laying the groundwork for supervision of party primaries

The electoral commission is laying the ground to supervise party primaries for what could possibly test their logistical preparedness.

Political parties are required to conduct their primaries at least 60 days before elections. Therefore, if all the participating parties wait until the last minute as is the custom in the country, they could present the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission with a serious headache.

The new law was enacted on Thursday, but the electoral commission is talking tough on the requirements political parties must fulfil.

“Running democratic party primaries means that we must abide by the principles that promote democracy as it were for any election,” communications manager Andrew Limo told the Nation.

The electoral commission says that political parties that request their services will be required to submit a credible list of party members who will vote for their preferred candidates.

“The process of voting and counting must be verifiable; clear dispute resolution mechanisms must be in place; uniform rules should be applied across all areas and must be known by all members of the party; the process must be seen to be transparent and open to the members etc,” said Mr Limo.

“If the formula used in nominating candidates is fast-past-post for instance, then one must consider voting materials to be used, voting stations and the process of collation and declaration of the final results,” he said.

POLICY GUIDANCE

However, since this may require policy guidance by commissioners, the exact process and requirements may have to wait until the new commissioners are in office, possibly by November.

“No consultations have been made so far but we will definitely liaise with interested political players once the new law is enacted,” he said.

There are fears that the party nominations could distract staff from the all-important August 2017 general election since nominations will likely take place just months before.

If, for instance, two or more political parties decide to conduct their nominations on the same day or days apart, the commission’s capacity could be stretched to the limit.

There are also fears that any failure by the commission in supervising the nominations could be erode public confidence in the commission before the main poll and make losers in the General Election cast doubts on the outcome of the polls.

“It would be double jeopardy to conduct nomination for political parties and also prepare for a General Election. If you mess up the party nominations, take it from me, it will be worse for Kenya to believe in anything you do during the actual elections ... so either decline if not ready or do it perfectly to raise confidence,” said the secretary-general of Chama Cha Uzalendo party Philippe Sadjah.

RELIABLE LISTS

Besides, there are questions on whether parties have reliable membership lists that can be used in nominations.

As has happened in the past, it is possible for ordinary Kenyans to find themselves registered as members in more than one political party at a time.

Party primaries have often been the Achilles’ heel of many a political party. This headache could, therefore, be transferred to the electoral body and put them on a collision course with politicians, especially the losers who will start accusing the commission of bias ahead of the main election.

In ODM, for instance, opinion is divided on whether or not to use electoral commission for the party primaries. Party national chairman John Mbadi has said that while the commission would ensure credibility of the nominations, the party does not have funds to pay for it.

“If the funds come from the government, the better for us. If we are to source our own funding, it may be tricky because it is very expensive,” the Suba MP said.

The headquarters has asked the members to avoid commenting on party nominations.

“The nomination is the sole responsibility of the National Elections Board and it is the board that will give the timetable and the modus operandi of the nominations,” ODM executive director Oduor Ong’wen said in a statement on Wednesday.

THOROUGH REVIEW

A senior electoral commission official said they would have a thorough review of its procedures and preparedness before getting involved in the party affairs.

“We want to tread carefully on this matter because we do not intend to give the electorate an opportunity to start questioning our preparedness to supervise the General Election,” the official told the Nation.

But the Political Parties Dispute Resolution Tribunal says electoral commission should steer clear of nominations, because the electoral body cannot oversee nominations and also be the arbiter when disputes arise.

A member of the tribunal, James Atema, said their team should hande political parties’ disputes and not the electoral body to reduce the confusion in the last General Election where both bodies heard disputes from nominations.

“Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission should honorably decline to handle party primaries, the law allows them to do so and Parliament has already given the tribunal that mandate. It will reach a point where the electoral body is a respondent in a case and therefore it will be difficult for them to judge themselves,” said Mr Atema.

The cases are supposed to be heard within 90 days after a case is filed and any applicant is expected to pay Sh2,000 on filing.

Mr Atema was speaking during a political parties dispute resolution workshop sponsored by a German Agency Conrad, at a Kisumu hotel on Friday.

He said that unlike the electoral body, all the judgments they made in 2013 went unchallenged and that measures have been put in place to ensure they are up to the task to handle petitions. “We have expanded our five member bench to seven and this means we can hold two sessions because we need only three to achieve a quorum,” he said.

Mr Atema said his team expects many disputes after the door was closed on defections. 

A representative of ODM at the forum Nancy Anyango said the nomination was a sole responsibility of the National Elections Board.

She said the party was concerned that the electoral commission does not have the financial resources to undertake primaries and this will have to be rectified by Parliament.