Eldoret North MP William Ruto has ruled out the possibility of entering into pre-election coalition with Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta or any other presidential aspirant.
Ruto said he will vie for presidency and will only form a coalition in case there will be a run-off. He said he will not be party to any political deals that may see him drop out of the presidential race in favour of any other aspirant.
The URP presidential aspirant said his last week’s meeting with Uhuru and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka mainly considered the possibility of forming an alliance during the run-off.
“It’s almost obvious that no one will win the elections in the first round and for me I am targeting to be either number two or three,” said Ruto.
He was speaking yesterday during a morning interview on Chamgei FM which broadcasts in Kalenjin dialect mostly within the Rift Valley region.
He said that if he will make it to the second position, then he will win the polls against any of the other aspirants. “If I will be in position three after first round voting, then I will be better placed to negotiate with either number one or two for a better arrangement in the run-off stage,” Ruto said.
Last Thursday, Uhuru, Ruto and Kalonzo met at the Norfolk Hotel with reports that they were discussing the possibility of forming a coalition that will back Uhuru as the presidential candidate and avoid a runoff with Prime Minister Raila Odinga of ODM.
Uhuru is expected to run on a TNA ticket while Kalonzo has declared he will vie on Wiper Democratic Movement ticket.Yesterday, Ruto downplayed the reports that he was planning to back any other presidential candidate before the elections.
He said that his URP would be free to negotiate with other parties but at the moment the party was concentrating on strengthening its popularity countrywide.
“Our plan is to have as many MPs as possible and other people to be elected through our party so that we will have a strong base to negotiate with others,” he said adding that he would soon step up his campaigns countrywide ahead of the March 4th elections.
Speaking on the ongoing defections, Ruto said his party was working to have a free and fair nomination exercise ahead of the polls and that no one including the current MPs would be given direct nomination.
He said although some aspirants including some MPs were seeking direct nominations, he had made it clear to them that they would have to face the electorate along with other aspirants.
Ruto said the defection of Marakwet East MP Linah Kilimo to TNA was within her democratic right adding that the party had declined to give her direct nomination.
He said more MPs are on their way to joining URP noting that the party was growing very popular throughout the country. Ruto at the same time urged Kenyans to prepare to participate in the elections in large numbers and also ensure that peace prevails.
“We want to have a very free and fair election and Kenyans will vote in peace because we want the country to remain stable after the elections,” said Ruto.
During the interview, Ruto did not address the ICC cases which he is facing along Uhuru, former head of civil service Francis Muthaura and journalist Joshua Sang.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment