PM winds up Kisii county tour

Written By:PMPS,    Posted: Sun, Mar 18, 2012

Odinga said the current parliament will exceed her term with at least seven months if the polls are held next year Prime Minister Raila Odinga concluded his two days tour of Kisii County Sunday maintaining that the coming general polls should be held in December this year. He insists that the cabinet had settled for the 17th of December as the appropriate date for the polls to allow parliament finalizes pending budgetary bills on the floor of the house. "The cabinet came up with the 17th of December after much consideration of the financial calendar after it emerged that parliament could the earliest exhaust pending budgetary issues by October this year." He told a leaders' meeting at the Kisii Club that suggestions to have the polls pushed to the 4th of March was not acceptable because it would technically eat into the term of the next parliament. Odinga said if the polls were held on the 4th of March next Year the current parliament will exceed her term with at least seven months. He also argued that Kenyans were traditionally accustomed with having the polls during the Christmas holidays and were not comfortable going to elections when schools were in operation.  "We can dissolve parliament in October or let the MPs serve their full term as long as we hold the polls in December this year but the courts were wrong in their decision to push the election to march next year." He at the same time asked Kenyans to uphold peace during the electioneering period to avert a recurrence of the events that characterized the aftermath of the 2007 general polls. Odinga asked Kenyans to jealously guard the prevailing peace and tranquility the nation enjoys as the country went through another challenging period to ensure that the polls were conducted in a conducive environment. The premier also informed a leaders' meeting in Kisii town of his desire to have the provincial Administration restructured to comply with the devolved system of government.