By NATION REPORTER
Posted Wednesday, August 17 2011 at 22:30
Posted Wednesday, August 17 2011 at 22:30
Parliament has put on ice amendments to the Political Parties Bill over two controversial changes made to the draft law.
The freeze comes a day after MPs allied to the G7 political alliance amended the Bill to allow pre-election coalitions and party-hopping.
The MPs now want Speaker Kenneth Marende to study the amendments and rule on their constitutionality. The ruling is expected on Tuesday.
Mr Ababu Namwamba (Budalang’i, ODM) said it was wrong for political parties to coalesce before elections because if their ideologies were similar, the logical thing would be to merge, which is provided for in the Bill.
“That wording (in article 108) is not idle. It presupposes that a determination of parties arises after the membership of the National Assembly has been determined. This House is Hammurabi, the law giver. It can alter the course of lawmaking, especially if the process and path taken are illegal,” said Mr Namwamba.
“We cannot allow a violation of this Constitution, especially as we prepare to celebrate its first anniversary.”
MPs also noted that the reduction of the period in which one can switch parties from three months to just a fortnight was meant to allow party-hopping, which amounted to “fraud”.
They said article 85 of the Constitution provides for a three-month notice before jumping ship.
The article provides that one can be an independent candidate only if he quits a party three months before an election.
Ms Martha Karua (Gichugu, Narc Kenya) said legalising party-hopping was blatant “political promiscuity”.
She said while the current Act was weak in enhancing discipline in political parties, MPs were trying to pass a much weaker law that defeats the logic behind a new governance regime.
“The Constitution is meant to improve the platform we have been operating on,” said Ms Karua, whose opposition to the Bill was defeated on Tuesday.
Cabinet minister Njeru Githae said the MPs who had lost the previous day had regrouped to stall the Bill.
“The whole thing smacks of sour losers. We debated the issue and a decision was made. Some members even stood up to force a division, but they did not have the numbers. The members are not being sincere. There has been a re-think on this issue,” said Mr Githae.
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