Intense lobbying is going on within CORD for one of the nominated MPs to step down in favour of Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka to enable him assume the Leader of Minority in Parliament.
An MP who spoke on condition of anonymity said the VP was being considered for the position so that he could lead the opposition in Parliament.
However, even if the plan to have one of the nominees step down for him, Kalonzo will still have an uphill task getting the consent of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to include his name in the party lists which were submitted ahead of the March 4 elections.
Attempts by CORD leaders to change the party nomination lists to accommodate top leaders after they lost in the elections failed after the IEBC insisted it would not alter the lists whose submission deadline after the closure date in January.
ODM, Wiper and Ford Kenya had on March 15 jointly petitioned the commission to be allowed “rectify” their lists of nominees to Parliament, Senate and county assemblies.
The Jubilee Alliance has already settled on Garissa Township MP Aden Duale of URP to be the Leader of the Majority after the Nairobi women representative Rachel Shebesh was prevailed upon to step down. The Leader of Majority according to the National Assembly standing orders should be an MP belonging to the party or coalition of parties.
The Leader of Minority on the other hand will be the leader of the minority party or coalition of parties in the National Assembly.
The creation of the two positions effectively whittles down the powers of the chief whip, which has traditionally been a key parliamentary office.
A source close to the VP who did not want to divulge more details said the proposal was like to be on the agenda of a Cord retreat scheduled to be held next week.
If the proposal fails, the MP who spoke to The Star on condition of anonymity so as to be able to freely discuss internal coalition matters said three other MPs had already shown interest in taking up the minority leader position.
Those already lobbying for consideration are MPs Ababu Namwamba, former Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo and outgoing Public Service minister Dalmas Otieno.
“There is caucusing going on but there is no front runner to talk about at this time. The VP’s entry however could tilt the race and make him the favourite. As CORD, we accepted the Supreme Court ruling and we want to form a strong opposition in Parliament to keep the government on check,” the MP said.
Meanwhile, the Committee on Appointments, which is supposed to vet Cabinet secretaries as per the House Standing orders, is expected to be in place a week after the first session of Partliament.
The parliamentary media liaison officer David Mugonyi clarified that Parliament had not held its first sitting as contemplated under the law to enable the committee to be formed.
He said the presence of the MPs in Parliament last week was not a session but was to allow them to take the oath of office, elect a speaker and his deputy.
The Committee on Appointments comprise of the Speaker as the chairperson, the Deputy Speaker, the Leader of the Majority Party, the Leader of the Minority party, the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party, the Deputy Leader of the Minority party and not more than 22 other Members nominated by the House Business Committee, on the basis of proportional party membership in the House.
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