Vested interests versus Parties Bill

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File | Nation House Speaker Kenneth Marende at a past interview in his office. Mr Marende is on Tuesday expected to rule on the constitutionality of amendments to the Political Parties Bill that were passed following an acrimonious debate last week. 

By Njeri Rugene nrugene@ke.nationmedia.com and Emeka-Mayaka Gekara gmayaka@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Saturday, August 20  2011 at  22:00

IN SUMMARY

• Some MPs have rejected attempts to tame the culture of switching political loyalties at the 11th hour and restrict formation of coalitions to after elections

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Vested interests as 2012 elections draw closer have threatened to water down a proposed law that aims to instil discipline in political parties.

The major contentious issues at the heart of the conflict are whether politicians can enter alliances before or after elections, and proposals in the law aimed at taming the culture of changing parties at the 11th hour.

Formation of coalitions

Article 10 of the Political Parties Bill 2011 – which is meant to repeal and replace the Political Parties Act of 2007 – proposes formation of coalitions before elections.

But the thinking of the House team that oversees implementation of the Constitution is that forming political alliances before elections goes against the spirit of the supreme law.

The Abdikadir Mohammed-led committee argues that such arrangements are a recipe for political uncertainty and yield unstable governments.

Secondly, the committee maintains that such coalitions should come after elections, adding that parties intending to work together before an election should merge because of shared philosophy and agenda.

If not, they should coalesce after the elections only if one of them requires an absolute majority.

The Political Parties Bill, now in the Third Reading Stage in Parliament, addresses the formation of coalitions and mergers by political parties as well as setting out the manner in which political parties should be conducted.

“Parties that want to survive go to the elections as they are and then after elections, if the party that has a majority does not have an absolute majority, it can court the other parties for a temporary union, which is not a merger,” said Gichugu MP Martha Karua. “The freedom of association is protected in mergers before the elections, but after elections, you can have the coalition.”

Those opposed to pre-election alliances have accused a section of the political class of pushing for mergers to serve their short-term interests.

“Let us not do it for our personal interests or for vested interests of today; let us do it for posterity,” said Sirisia MP Moses Wetang’ula on Wednesday.

“Let us not pass laws because they will help cross the Rubicon today. Even in Roman days, when you crossed the Rubicon, you never came back. We should be more careful than that.”

The attempt by the House committee to restrict coalitions to after elections was rejected in a spirited campaign in Parliament speared-headed mainly by MPs allied to Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto.

Led by Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi, Uhuru/Ruto allies passed an amendment retaining both pre- and post-election coalitions amid strong resistance by a group of backbenchers mainly allied to Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Also rejecting the Murungi amendment were Narc-Kenya’s Martha Karua and Ford-K’s Eseli Simiyu.

Rallying forces

Further, a section of MPs, mainly those pushing for alliances before elections, also want the law to allow them to switch party loyalties until two weeks to an election.

However, Article 85 of the Constitution states that one needs to issue a three-month notice before leaving one party for another. The article also provides that one can be an independent candidate on quitting a political party three months prior to an election.

The so-called G7 alliance of Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto has been rallying forces for an alliance to face Mr Odinga’s ODM.

On the other hand, Mr Odinga has been keen to exploit the disorganisation and confusion in PNU as he struggles to consolidate national support.

Incidentally, PNU is itself an alliance cobbled together shortly before the 2007 elections.

Emotive issues

Due to the conflict surrounding the emotive issues in Parliament this past week, the Speaker is on Tuesday expected to rule on the constitutionality of the amendments that were passed following acrimonious debate last Tuesday. (Read: House freezes changes to Political Parties Bill)

The matter was pushed to the Speaker’s table on Wednesday after ODM’s Olago Aluoch complained that the amendments violated the Constitution, and sought the Speaker’s direction with the aim of reversing them.

There is agreement that on the basis of Article 108 – which states that: “The leader of the majority party shall be the person who is the leader in the National Assembly of the largest party or coalition of parties” – the Constitution accommodates coalitions. The question is, though, after or before elections?

“It will be a serious breach of the Constitution for us to abolish coalitions in the way the committee has proposed. It will be very dangerous for us to sit here and deprive people of their freedom of association,” argued Mr Murungi.

“Political parties should be left free to form coalitions, either before or after elections,” his PNU and Cabinet colleague Njeru Githae said.

Mr Isaac Ruto, the rebel ODM MP for Chepalungu, said alliances before elections are crucial in ensuring the country remains at peace after a General Election.

“Let us not outlaw a situation that may be used to ensure stability,” he said. “This country was forced into a post-election coalition to remain stable. That is something that could have been sorted out if there had been a pre-election package that would have ensured post-election stability.”

Despite rejection of his committee’s amendment, Mr Mohammed remains optimistic that the final Bill will be a compromise of various interests.

“Laws are coloured by the views, opinions, emotions and interests of the politics of the day. Laws are made by politicians with vested interests ... They can be amended by subsequent parliaments,” the Mandera Central MP said.