Jubilee wants to put off 2017 election: Raila

Cord leader Raila Odinga on Thursday accused the Jubilee coalition of plotting to use the debate on reforming the electoral commission to prolong its stay in power beyond August 2017.

In an interview with the Nation, Mr Odinga said the Opposition would not allow Jubilee to extend the life of the current Parliament to December 2017.

“We don’t want to go there. We have calculated well enough to know that the next elections can be held as stipulated in the Constitution,” he said.

However, he also said that even if the General Election were to be delayed by “three or four” months, Cord would still not be interested in sharing power as its leaders would be busy rallying Kenyans to vote out Jubilee.

“The country will be in a campaign mood and no one will be interested in joining a government in its last months. We don’t want to share power,” Mr Odinga said.

He spoke on the same day that the Opposition picked its seventh member to the parliamentary team that will spearhead talks to reform the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

SPAT OVER KHALWALE

Cord resolved an internal dispute by retaining Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale.

Dr Khalwale’s inclusion had caused disagreement within the Opposition, with members of Mr Odinga’s ODM reported to have demanded his replacement with a woman, preferably Florence Mutua, the Busia woman representative.

Dr Khalwale is a member of the United Democratic Front, which is allied to Jubilee. However, he is himself allied to Cord.

Some members of ODM were unhappy with the manner in which Dr Khalwale was nominated.

After the dispute was resolved, the 14 names of the members of the select committee on the electoral changes were tabled in both the National Assembly and the Senate simultaneously through a motion that will be debated in both Houses on Tuesday.

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale told his colleagues that following Dr Khalwale’s nomination, the motion to set up the committee would be given priority when the House resumes on Tuesday afternoon.

“Of great importance will be the motion on the joint select committee to look into matters of the IEBC,” he said as he gave the schedule of activities for next week.

Deputy Minority Leader Jakoyo Midiwo also said that he had signed the motion.

“We are going to start the discussions once it is approved by the House next week,” he said.

'NO' NUSU-MKATE AFFAIR

Jubilee MPs, among them Mr Duale, have claimed that Cord was using the push for dialogue on the IEBC to find its way into the government.

The MPs said that given the short period to the next elections, the country might have to postpone the 2017 elections, which would necessitate an interim period. According to them, Cord intends to use this to demand to share power with Jubilee.

On Thursday, however, Mr Odinga denied the claims and said there was enough time for the IEBC to be reconstituted and for the new team to prepare to supervise the 2017 elections as provided for in the Constitution.

According to him, if a new team is in office by August, it will only need six months to prepare for the next elections. The new commissioners will need two months to familiarise themselves with the job, another two months to carry out voter registration, a month to prepare the voters’ register, and one more month for the inspection of the register.

“We are not talking about doing a PhD; we are talking about managing an election. A maximum of six months is required if we have a new IEBC in place by August,” he said.

He denied that Cord was interested in sharing power with Jubilee should the electoral reforms process take longer than expected.

“Who is interested in a nusu-mkate (half-a-loaf-of-bread) affair?” he asked. “How can you say that the Cord coalition wants to share power?”