Kenya's opposition refuses to negotiate despite the fact that they represent 44% of the voters.
The election Final results
PNU Mwai Kibaki 4,584,721 46%
ODM Raila Odinga 4,352,993 44%
ODM-K Kalonzo Musyoka 879,903 9%
Kenya's opposition brushes aside President's offer
Posted 11 hours 49 minutes ago
Updated 11 hours 50 minutes agoKenya's President Mwai Kibaki said on Saturday he was ready to form a national unity government to end Kenya's bloody turmoil but the opposition brushed the offer aside, saying he must step down and negotiate.
After a week of political violence and tribal clashes since the disputed December 27 election, Mr Kibaki said he would accept a unity government "that would not only unite Kenyans but would also help in the healing and reconciliation process".
But the opposition said the offer changed nothing and only internationally mediated talks would end a crisis that has killed at least 300 people and forced 250,000 from their homes.
"My position has not changed. We want a negotiated settlement. Our starting point is that Kibaki is there illegally. He should not come to the negotiating table as the president," opposition leader Raila Odinga told reporters.
Mr Kibaki's office issued his offer after he met the top US Africa diplomat, Jendayi Frazer. President George W Bush sent Ms Frazer to Nairobi on Friday to try to help end the crisis.
Mr Odinga, who had appeared on course to win the vote until Mr Kibaki was handed a narrow victory last Sunday, says the election was rigged and his rival is an illegal president.
He appeared to have ruled out a national unity government even before Mr Kibaki's statement.
"We know how governments of national unity operate. We have been there before with Kibaki. That is a way to cheat Kenyans of their rights," Mr Odinga said after meeting Ms Frazer earlier.
Mr Odinga helped Mr Kibaki win power in a 2002 election but says the president broke a promise to award him a new prime minister's position after the victory.
Their rivalry dates from then and the distrust is one of the obstacles to a deal to end the current violence.
Mr Kibaki's office said Ms Frazer had "commended President Kibaki for reaching out to the opposition in order to stop the violence and called on all parties involved to embrace dialogue as a way out of the current situation."
It quoted Ms Frazer as saying Mr Kibaki had shown "commitment to ending the political impasse" by extending an "olive branch to the opposition".
- Reuters
Kenya's opposition brushes aside President's offer - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The election Final results
PNU Mwai Kibaki 4,584,721 46%
ODM Raila Odinga 4,352,993 44%
ODM-K Kalonzo Musyoka 879,903 9%
Background:
A presidential election was held as part of the Kenyan general election on December 27, 2007; parliamentary elections were held on the same date.[1] Incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner and sworn in on December 30, despite opposition leader Raila Odinga's claims of victory.[2][3][4]
The election was strongly marked by tribalism, with Kibaki a member of the traditionally dominant Kikuyu ethnic group and Odinga a member of the Luo ethnic group. Following the announcement of Kibaki's victory, tribe-based rioting broke out.[5]
Presidential candidates
Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent president, sought a second term as the candidate of the Party of National Unity. His main challengers were Raila Odinga of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Kalonzo Musyoka of ODM-Kenya.[6]
Kenneth Matiba of Saba Saba Asili joined the race after a 10-year political hiatus. Other candidates were Joseph Ngacha Karani (Kenya Patriotic Trust), Nixon Jeremiah Kukubo (Republican Party of Kenya), Pius Muiru (Kenya Peoples’ Party), David Waweru Ng’ethe (Chama Cha Umma) and Nazlin Omar (Workers Congress Party).[7]
Timeline and preparations
Incumbent president Mwai Kibaki declared on January 26, 2007 his intentions of running for re-election.[8] At the time ODM-Kenya coalition was expected to field the strongest challenger for Kibaki. The main parties affiliated to ODM-Kenya were LDP and KANU.[9] At the 2002 elections LDP was part of the NARC movement backing Kibaki, but were dismissed from the cabinet after 2005 constitutional referendum.[10] KANU, on the other hand is a former ruling party, but the former president Daniel Arap Moi was among its faction opposing its involvement with the ODM-Kenya coalition.[11] KANU and LDP had originally teamed up for the 2005 referendum, under the banner Orange Democratic Movement.[12]
ODM-Kenya split in two in August 2007, with one faction (ODM-Kenya) led by Kalonzo Musyoka, while others joined the original ODM. KANU left the coalition. Former president Daniel Arap Moi announced his support for the re-election of Kibaki, his former political enemy, in late August,[13] and Uhuru Kenyatta followed the suit and announced his support for Kibaki in mid-September. Kenyatta had earlier vied for presidential candidacy on the ODM ticket before he and his party KANU had ditched the coalition. KANU will field its own parliamentary candidates.[14]
Several ODM members vied for presidency, including Kalonzo Musyoka, Raila Odinga, Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Najib Balala, Musalia Mudavadi and Joseph Nyagah.[15] Following the August 2007 split, the ODM-K elected Musyoka as its candidate on August 31[16][17] and the ODM elected Odinga as its candidate on September 1.[18]
On September 16, 2007, Kibaki announced that he would stand as the candidate of a new alliance called the Party of National Unity, which will include a number of parties, including KANU,[19][20] DP, Narc-Kenya, Ford-Kenya, Ford People, and Shirikisho among others.[20] He began his presidential campaign on September 30 at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.[21]
Odinga launched his campaign in Uhuru Park on October 6.[22][23] On the same day, three ODM supporters were shot (one of them fatally), allegedly by bodyguards of Stanley Livondo, who is running as the PNU candidate for Odinga's seat in parliament. Livondo was arrested, along with two of his bodyguards and released later.[23]
In October, Odinga led Kibaki in opinion polls. Two cabinet ministers, first Health Minister Charity Ngilu and then Regional Cooperation Minister John Koech, backed Odinga in October; Kibaki dismissed Ngilu from the cabinet.[24]
Pius Muiru, a bishop and the leader of Kenya Peoples Party (KPP), officially launched his bid for the presidency on October 21, 2007 at Kamukunji grounds.[25]
Parliament was dissolved on Monday October 22nd, paving way for the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) to announce the election date.[26] The date was officially announced on October 26, 2007 by the ECK, stating the elections would be held on Thursday December 27, 2007.[27]
Opinion polls in late October put Odinga at 50% support, Kibaki at 39%, and Musyoka at 8%.[28] The poll released in early November put Odinga at 45%, Kibaki at 41% and Musyoka at 11%, while on November 23 a poll placed Odinga and Kibaki at about the same level, with 43.6% and 43.3% support respectively.[29]
Presidential candidates presented their nomination papers on the November 14th and 15th to the ECK and 9 candidates were cleared to be on the ballot in December.[30]
No comments:
Post a Comment