Merger of political parties is not a bad thing after all

The merger of several parties in the last few days to form the Jubilee Party mirrors the process that led to the founding of the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) way back in August 2002.

The ideological positioning of Narc at the time may be different from Jubilee’s at present but the road followed and the final result could be similar: electoral stability.

This development is positive in a number of respects. One it creates a perception of ‘inclusion’ among majority of communities whose leaders form the Jubilee party.

Similar developments at the time of forming Narc witnessed a growing sense of national unity and cohesion after many ‘tribal’ lords joined Narc.

Two, inclusive politics generally relieves the country of pain of electoral stress. Anxieties arising from competition over the presidential seat results in massive pain to people and the country in general because everyone thinks about violence of 2007.

Having a broad based alliance relieves this sense of anxiety especially when Narc is taken into context; Narc changed Kenya, created a quick foundation for electoral stability and introduced a new form of political competition based on alliances.

Narc was a broad based inclusive political alliance. Its formation stabilised politics for a while and enabled the first government of President Mwai Kibaki to carry out some of the most difficult governance reforms the country has ever had.

However, Narc excluded a majority of groups in the Rift Valley, the heartland of Kanu leadership at the time. Similarly, the merger of Jubilee is likely to lead to a broad based ‘inclusive’ political alliance.

Given the parties that have subscribed, however, Jubilee will exclude communities allied to the opposition. All the same, it is likely to lead also to a stable electoral process especially at the national level.

The road leading to Jubilee mirrors the road that Narc travelled. The formation of Narc witnessed the dissolving of more than 14 political parties to form the National Alliance Party of Kenya (NAK). The new alliance broadened its support by incorporating the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its Rainbow Alliance and the new name of Narc was coined.

These bonded together on a purpose to win the 2002 elections. The new opposition whitewashed Kanu in a manner that made it difficult for Kanu to ever wake up again. The party never recovered from this defeat.

Narc established an apex ceremonial body, the Summit. The Summit included many ethno-regional leaders. Various communities felt and perceived themselves as being at the centre of political power simply because their ‘tribal lords’ were inside.

But when disagreements within the Summit emerged and some groups were locked out, things never remained the same. The politics of exclusion destabilised the entire development.

Jubilee is also bringing together leaders to form an inclusive political party. This is likely to stabilise the electoral process.

If the party manages to contain the main groups together up-to the election date in August 2017, it will effectively lock the numbers that it requires to win the election.

Surprisingly, the opposition-Coalition for Reform and Democracy (Cord) has not demonstrated any attempt to begin mobilising its own numbers.
The opposition is yet to lay down a road map to face the new Jubilee yet the new party has everything in place to form a political juggernaut.

Nonetheless, if the new Jubilee manages to contain together the group, the 2017 presidential electoral process will pass as a peaceful one.

PLAYING DIVISIVE ROLE

This may be difficult to replicate at the county level because devolution of resources and power is generating a different type of politics in all counties.
Sub-groups will be facing subgroups; and clans will be facing clans with a view to finding a place for their local ‘boys’ at the eating table.

Merging of parties – whether Jubilee or even Cord were to take the same road – is an issue that was in public debates in the 1990s and therefore it is not really new.

Indeed, a reading of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission report of 2003 reveals a lot on what people said about political parties.

The commission visited many parts of the country between 2000 and 2002 collecting views on the content of a new Constitution. Many people said the parties were vehicles for use by politicians. Others said the parties were ‘brief cases’ for hire or even for sale to politicians.

Others pointed at ‘tribalism’ in parties as playing a divisive role in the society. Still others faulted the parties for being formed for ‘personal enhancement’. People proposed fewer political parties. In a number of occasions some said Kenya should not have more than five political parties while others said the country should be designed to have not more than two large parties.

People were also tired with the habit of politicians moving from one party to another and as often as they wished.

They wanted party-hopping stopped and punished. They wanted an end to what they called political ‘nomads’.

This demand to have discipline in political parties later influenced the drafting of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 in several ways.

PAPER WORK

The Committee of Experts drafting the Constitution was cognisant of these views. It introduced provisions to promote effective management and guide institutionalisation of political parties.

Furthermore, the Constitution lays the basic requirements that include a need for parties to promote national unity.

Since the passing of the Constitution in 2010, these requirements have remained on paper without practice. All existing parties violate the provisions on political parties without caution.

The parties forming Cord and those that hitherto formed Jubilee, have acted as political welfare associations of their respective leaders.

And because the parties have been ethnic and tribal, political divisions and conflicts always emerge among them depending on the nature of the relationship among the politicians forming them.

The narrow minds of political parties, therefore, have been harmful to national cohesion, and harmful even to development itself. This has been the trend for a while now.

Merging of parties to form one party will have the effect of reducing the number of parties and introduce political blocs with room for inclusive politics.

Bringing together different regional leaders to assemble a political party is likely to stabilise party competition.

Of course how to manage internal affairs and plough through the governance of a broad based alliance is difficult and a risk for the country.

It might result in increased cases of corruption as leaders seek to satisfy their interests using the new found opportunities.
It might also lead to a very weak opposition as it happened with the defeat of Kanu in 2002.

If the opposition is weak after the 2017 election, and the ruling party gets the majority seats in the Senate and the National Assembly, then there will be no strong checks on the Executive except if the individuals elected to Parliament will have the confidence required to promote national and public interests.

All the same, whatever one makes of the concluded merger of Jubilee parties, there is no doubt that Jubilee is focussed to rekindle the road leading to formation of Narc.

There is no doubt that in an attempt to bring parties together, Jubilee is focussed on beyond 2017. It is a matter of ‘wait and see’ what the the opposition will craft as a response to this new development.

Prof Karuti Kanyinga is based at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), University of Nairobi, [email protected]