Monday, October 8, 2012

PNU risks identity loss in alliance


By Moses Njagih
Details of the confidential coalition agreement between TNA and PNU have emerged pointing to the possible death of the President Kibaki’s party.
The PNU National Executive Council (NEC) met and approved the party’s pre-election agreement with Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s outfit, which more or less points to the winding up of the President’s party.
The agreement, a copy of which was obtained by The Standard, indicates that PNU, the vehicle that sponsored Kibaki to his second term in office, has literally ceded all ground, but the name, to be accommodated in Uhuru’s arrangement.
On Monday, PNU’s NEC met and approved the recommendations of the party’s management committee and endorsed the coalition agreement with TNA, and urged the negotiating team to proceed and sign the documents.
“The NEC has urged the negotiating team to move with speed, fine-tune the agreement and come up with a document ready for signing as soon as possible,” said PNU acting Chairman Gideon Konchella.
Transport Minister Amos Kimunya declined to comment on if PNU would lose its identity after going into joint nomination with TNA, insisting that they would provide details about the status of their party once they sign the agreement.
“We do not want to put the cart before the horse, let us wait and all these details will come out clearly in a matter of days,” said Kimunya.
But from the leaked document it was apparent that the President’s party is as good as wound up, as despite not fielding any individual candidates, parts of the agreement states that those who seek to contest through the alliance must first register as TNA members.
“All members of PNU seeking nomination to contest any elective position at either the national or County Government level will do so under the auspices and as per the rules, regulations and framework of TNA and should apply for the TNA membership on or before October 17, 2012,” states the agreement.
The agreement bars PNU from conducting any nominations or issuing a certificate to anyone for purposes of contesting the elections.
Lose funding
PNU is also required to provide TNA with all information concerning its membership and other logistical support that Uhuru’s party may need for its operations.
But on the other hand, Uhuru’s party is barred from stopping any PNU allied aspirant from taking part in its nominations.
In a move seen as meant to ensure that PNU does not lose funding, the agreement stipulates the process of arriving at the figures that the party would get after the elections.
“Candidates who will initially be from PNU and who win the elections will be aggregated and their total sum will be the basis for pro-rated allocation of monies received through Political Parties Funds,” states the agreement.
Despite some parties having fully complied with the Political Parties Act and obtained full registration, most of them may not secure funding from the political parties fund after all.
This is because Article 25 (2) of the Political Parties Act reads in part: “Notwithstanding subsection (1), a political party shall not be entitled to receive funding from the Fund if—(a) the party does not secure at least five per cent of the total number of votes at the preceding general elections.”
The parties loss of the presidential vote to rival parties whose candidates are front runners, could affect the final tally in their meeting the threshold unless such parties are in special coalition arrangements.




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