Parties eye majority seats in the House

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PHOTO | SALATON NJAU Members of Parliament in the newly refurbished Chambers during the official opening at Parliament buildings on August 7, 2012.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By PETER LEFTIE pmutibo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Friday, August 24  2012 at  23:30

IN SUMMARY

• Leaders target powerful position of leader of majority party as presidency is seen as elusive to some
• The position of the leader of majority party or coalition of parties in Parliament is set out in article 108 of the Constitution
• With Parliament playing a major role in virtually every aspect of the country’s political governance, including all appointments to public offices and the approval of the national and county budgets, it will be extremely difficult  for a president to govern the country without a majority in the House

Leading political parties are quietly shifting their focus to securing the position of leader of majority party in the next Parliament — arguably the most powerful post in the new dispensation outside the presidency.

Leading parties, including Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s ODM, Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi’s United Democratic Forum, Eldoret North MP William Ruto’s United Republican Party, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) and the Wiper Democratic Movement of Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka are discreetly strategising to ensure they command sufficient numbers in the 11th Parliament to secure the post.

The Saturday Nation has established that ODM is targeting at least 200 MPs in the next Parliament while the Mr Musyoka’s Wiper party is considering entering into a pre-election coalition with a like-minded party to ensure that it commands the majority.

Mr Mudavadi’s UDF is, on the other hand, considering waiving nomination fees for some candidates, especially the youth and women, to ensure that it also gains a majority.

Mr Ruto’s URP has, however, ruled out any pre-election pact and put in place strategies to secure a majority in Parliament by penetrating voter rich regions, mainly the expansive Rift Valley, parts of Western and Upper Eastern.

Powerful post

The position of the leader of majority party or coalition of parties in Parliament is set out in article 108 of the Constitution.

With Parliament playing a major role in virtually every aspect of the country’s political governance, including all appointments to public offices and the approval of the national and county budgets, it will be extremely difficult  for a president to govern the country without a majority in the House.

“The leader of the majority party or coalition of parties will be very powerful, almost a co-President,” says Centre for Multi-party Democracy (CMD) chairman Justin Muturi. “Any president will find it impossible to rule without the support of this person, and it is surprising that the mainstream political parties seem only pre-occupied with the presidential campaigns while ignoring this post.”

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Ford Kenya secretary general Eseli Simiyu predicted that the post would provide a major bargaining chip in most pre- or post-election coalitions.

“This is a very important position. You will be surprised that many political players are demanding this post as a condition to enter into any form of a coalition because they realise that it will be very difficult for any president to rule if he or she does not have a majority in the House,” he stated.

Wiper party secretary general Mutula Kilonzo said the position had been the subject of the party’s National Executive Committee meeting held at its headquarters on Thursday.

“I’ve just been telling my party that given the ethnic nature of most of our parties, it is almost mandatory that we enter into a coalition if we are to secure a majority in Parliament. We will need at least 172 MPs in the next Parliament if we are to command a clear majority, hence the need to consider a coalition,” he said.

Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny, however, dispelled speculation that Mr Ruto had dropped his presidential ambitions and was now targeting the position.

“It is not true that William is gunning for the post of leader of majority party. He is firmly in the presidential race,” he said. “What URP is doing is to penetrate every  corner of the country. We have been to Meru, parts of Western the Rift Valley.”