Saturday, January 14, 2012

State gives reasons for bid to postpone polls



By Alex Ndegwa

Cabinet has given a list of crucial activities that precede the next General Election to back its public campaign against August polls date.
It lists the budget cycle, creation of new constituencies, registration of voters, and submission of political party nomination rules to the polls body among activities that would be disrupted if elections were held in August.
A contentious Cabinet-backed Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2011 seeking to push the elections date to the third Monday of December from the second Tuesday of August as outlined by the Constitution is before Parliament.
The Bill also seeks to shield the 80 additional constituencies from a constitutional requirement stipulating that they will only be recognised if they are created at least 12 months prior to the elections.
Cabinet also cited the transitional provisions in the Constitution to explain the term of the 10th Parliament expires on January 15, next year.
"Looking at the activities that need to be undertaken it will be difficult to hold the elections on the second week of August," stated a Cabinet memorandum prepared by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
It added: "The holding of elections in December is premised on the assumption that all the necessary activities will be undertaken within the stipulated timelines."
On the Budget cycle, Cabinet argued if elections were to be held in August, Parliament must be dissolved in June, which meant the House would not be in session to discuss and approve the Budget.
"Having the elections in August will not only affect the budget cycle in Kenya but also interfere with the cycle at the East African Community level and any policy discussions and decisions that may need to be made at this level," it noted.
The Government observed the delimitation of constituencies by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission could stretch to August 9 if challenged in court, leaving no time to prepare for the General Election.
IEBC timelines suggest registration of voters should be completed in May and the exercise can only be carried out once the delimitation of boundaries is complete. If elections are held in August, Cabinet argued, political parties need to have submitted their nomination rules by mid this month.
Parties have since missed the deadline to submit the nomination rules to IEBC. The Elections Act requires parties to bank their nomination rules with IEBC six months prior to the elections. The Political Parties Act, which came into force on November, requires parties to comply with the provisions by May.

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