Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Raila and Mudavadi allies agree on polls


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Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s supporters and those of Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi on April 4, 2012 struck a deal over nomination of the party’s presidential candidate. Photo/FILE
Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s supporters and those of Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi on April 4, 2012 struck a deal over nomination of the party’s presidential candidate. Photo/FILE 
By PETER LEFTIE pmutibo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Wednesday, April 4  2012 at  22:30
IN SUMMARY
  • Deputy PM gets his wish on presidential poll rules and primaries at county level, but national delegates conference has the final say
Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s supporters and those of Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi on Wednesday struck a deal over nomination of the party’s presidential candidate at a top level meeting.

A contested clause which declares the party leader the automatic presidential candidate dominated discussions at the National Executive Council, according to party officials who attended.
The clause issue was not in the agenda, the meeting was intended to discuss how the Orange Democratic Party was going to comply with the new Political Parties Act and its election rules.
ODM officials, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak for the party, said Mr Mudavadi’s supporters were opposed to plans to take the party’s election rules to the registrar of political parties before the party constitution is amended to remove the party leader clause.
But on Wednesday, while briefing journalists after the NEC meeting, party secretary-general Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o said the party had resolved to amend the contentious clause.
Prof Nyong’o said the matter had been referred to the legal committee to make changes that will make the party constitution consistent with the provisions of the Political Parties Act.
“The legal committee will report back to NEC and then the proposed amendments will be forwarded to the National Governing Council for ratification,” he said.
Earlier, the NEC had been informed that the party plans to present the party election rules to the registrar of political parties next Tuesday as part of on-going arrangements to comply with the requirements of the Constitution.
However, Mr Mudavadi’s supporters were of the view that such a move would “legitimise” the contested clause.
They were also opposed to plans to fix the nominations date for the party’s presidential, parliamentary, senatorial and governorship candidates in September.
“We were opposed to this date because it is likely to lock out of the General Election those who plan to defect,” one of the officials who attended the NEC meeting said.
Mr Mudavadi has been pushing for the removal of the party leader clause while some ODM officials like the party’s national vice-chairperson, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, have declared that the clause will not be changed.
A team of lawyers that drew up the party’s election rules headed by Mr Mugambi Imanyara were expected to brief the leaders.
The last NEC meeting last month failed to reach a consensus on the clause. Lands Minister James Orengo brought the clause to the meeting’s attention, warning that it would take an amendment of the party constitution to remove it and allow for presidential primaries.
The clause has been the subject of debate in ODM meetings with Mr Mudavadi insisting that it must be changed.
“If we are competing in a democratic process that we believe in, then let’s adopt rules that facilitate the game. We must make the process right, fair and transparent so that our supporters are ready to accept the outcome and support whoever is nominated,” Mr Mudavadi told delegates in Siaya County at the weekend.

His supporters have asked that the clause be amended or deleted to enable him pursue his presidential ambitions within the party.
Last week, Ms Wanjiru stirred a storm after she declared that the clause would not be amended. Both camps, however, rejected a third option which proposed an Electoral College to set the rules for picking the torchbearer.
Also rejected is a proposal that the nomination be open to all party members. Among other things, the legal team had proposed that the party’s presidential candidate be picked by the party’s delegates during an NDC. Another proposal was that the party’s flagbearer be picked by delegates at the county level.
Mr Mudavadi rejects the idea of picking the presidential candidate at the NDC saying it undermined the spirit of devolution.
Growing tension
The meeting was called amid growing tension in the party over campaigns for the presidential ticket. Mr Mudavadi has in the recent past warned of unspecified consequences if the system of nominating the presidential candidate was not going to be free and fair.
Both Mr Mudavadi and Mr Odinga attended Wednesday’s meeting although the DPM arrived late after attending an official function in Nyeri.
Mr Mudavadi has been arguing that nomination at the delegates conference will be open to manipulation and its endorsement could well have him declare that the party had opted for an unfair system.
Mr Odinga’s allies have claimed that there is an external hand behind Mr Mudavadi’s aggressive push to win the ODM ticket, accusations that the Local Government minister has denied.

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