Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Jubilee Coalition parties wrangles take new twist
By Geoffrey Mosoku
NAIROBI, KENYA: Wrangles in Jubilee Coalition took a new twist after Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi’s UDF party gave fresh conditions for disengagement.
UDF chairman Osman Hassan and Secretary General Dan Ameyo, who appeared before the Registrar of Political Parties, said their party was willing to formally end the alliance on two conditions.
“That TNA and URP make public apology for violating the agreement signed on December 4 and stop using the name Jubilee Alliance during the coming elections,” said Ameyo.
Mudavadi’s camp claimed the name Jubilee was coined when UDF joined TNA/URP alliance, which had earlier signed deal on December 3. Acting Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u had convened the meeting to try and solve the conflict, which was triggered by Uhuru’s sensational proclamation that he had been misled by the devil to sign a commitment to back down from presidency and support Mudavadi. The UDF party had written to Ms Ndung’u to complain on TNA’s reneging on Jubilee agreement that required that presidential candidate is nominated by UDF and TNA.
Coalition pacts
The agreement titled “Coalition Agreement for National Healing and Reconciliation, Inclusiveness and Prosperity” was signed on December 4 and lodged with the acting Registrar on the same day, which was deadline for pre-election coalition pacts.
On Monday, Mudavadi’s camp reiterated that their partners had violated the agreement by going ahead to nominate a joint candidate by excluding them.
The team remained categorical that although they no longer wished to be in the coalition, for the sake of the rule of law, their partners should follow procedure as stipulated in the agreement to end the alliance.
The deal signed to include UDF appeared to have nullified the TNA/URP earlier agreement as it states; “In case of inconsistency between the Initial Agreement and this Addendum, the contents of this Addendum shall prevail”.
However, the Uhuru and Ruto camps stood their ground arguing that the addendum signed on December 4 to incorporate UDF had become obsolete.
Kibaki assents to Bill allowing for more time to party hop
By Allan Kisia
NAIROBI, KENYA: Members of Parliament now have until January 18 to party hop after President Kibaki signed into law the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2012 that was passed by Parliament last week.
The President assented to the Bill yesterday, which also outlines the management of petitions and how to expedite them in the event of a run-off.
Politicians eyeing various elective seats in the General Election will now have to be members of political parties, at least by January 18, as opposed to the earlier deadline of January 4, as stipulated in the Political Parties Act.
It means that politicians who will lose in the party nominations, scheduled to take place between January 7 and 10, will still be able to jump to other parties, to have their names on the ballot papers.
The President also assented to seven other Bills — The Political Parties Amendment Bill, 2012, the Human Resource Management Professional Bill 2012, the Office of the Attorney General Bill, 2012, the Prevention, Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons and affected Communities Bill, 2012, the Micro and Small Enterprises Bill, 2012, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service Bill, 2012 and the Seeds and Plant Varieties (Amendment) Bill, 2012.
Parliament last month passed an amendment to the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2012 setting the limit for submission of party lists to the IEBC to 45 days before the elections.
Effectively, the same deadline has been set for candidates to submit their nomination papers to IEBC.
Attorney General Githu Muigai proposed the changes to the Elections Act 2012, which received unanimous backing from legislators.
He told the House the IEBC had objected to plans to reduce the time for nomination of candidates as the it wanted it done early enough so it could have enough time to deal with disputes arising from the exercise.
Congress poised to miss fiscal deadline
"Fiscal cliff" tumble looms despite Senate efforts
By Richard Cowan and Roberta Rampton | Reuters – 1 hr 14 mins ago- Reuters/Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the negotiations with Capitol Hill on the looming fiscal cliff in front of middle class Americans while in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States looked on track to tumble over the "fiscal cliff" at midnight on Monday, at least for a day, as lawmakers remained reluctant to back last-minute efforts bySenate leaders to avert severe tax increases and spending cuts.
The U.S. House of Representatives might not vote on any "fiscal cliff" plan before midnight, possibly pushing a legislative decision into New Year's Day, when financial markets will be closed, said a Republican aide.
The Senate plan was heavy on tax increases and light on spending cuts, raising concerns that it would repel rank-and-file lawmakers, particularly in the Republican-controlled House.
As Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden kept working on unresolved parts of the deal, there was deep discontent among Senate Democrats.
"The caucus as a whole is not sold" on the proposal, said a Senate Democratic aide. "We just don't have the votes for it."
If Congress fails to act, about $600 billion in tax increases and government-wide spending cuts will begin taking effect after midnight, harsh measures that could push the U.S. economy into recession.
But lawmakers could still vote for any deal on New Year's Day and prevent the worst of the fiscal cliff effect.
Under the Senate plan, those with household income above $450,000 or individual income above $400,000 would be taxed at 39.6 percent, up from 35 percent. Those with lower income would be taxed at the current, reduced tax rates put in place under former President George W. Bush.
The aide said Democrats did not like the $450,000 threshold for raising taxes on the rich - they wanted $250,000 - or the higher threshold for raising estate taxes. Democrats also are upset that there is no agreement yet to put off the first round of $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts.
Republicans already are pushing for switching those across-the-board cuts to savings in Medicare and Social Security and threatening to block a debt limit increase in February unless they get their way. But that is a fight that would most likely play out in January and February.
A group of liberal senators met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to register anger with the deal being negotiated by Biden, and some aides were dispirited that the vice president, a fellow Democrat, had gone further than they wanted, just as he did in December 2010 when all Bush tax cuts were extended for two years.
Shortly after the plan emerged, President Barack Obama said agreement was within sight, but he sounded a cautious note.
"There are still issues to resolve, but we're hopeful that Congress can get it done, but it's not done," Obama, a Democrat, said at a White House event.
U.S. stocks rose on the day, with the market closing before the latest news broke about the House not voting. The benchmark Dow Jones industrial average closed up 1.3 percent at 13,104.
(Writing by Kevin Drawbaugh; Additional reporting by Mark Felsenthal, Tabassum Zakaria, Kim Dixon, Jeff Mason, Rachelle Younglai and David Morgan; Editing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney)
CLINTON'S CLOT BETWEEN BRAIN & SKULL
Doctors's have confirmed that the clot is located behind her right ear.
We wish her a quick recovery.
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