I smell a rat!Party proposals for Annan peace deal By BERNARD NAMUNANE
Last updated: 7 minutes ago
MPs are today expected to be briefed about the positions adopted by the Government and ODM in negotiations to end the post-election impasse.
They will hear about the Government’s
proposals for ODM to remain a strong opposition party as legal and constitutional reforms are undertaken and ODM’s plans to have the position of executive prime minister with two deputy prime ministers created.
These are some of the proposals to be presented to MPs during the Speaker’s Kamukunji, an informal gathering of lawmakers, at Old Parliament Chambers, by the Kofi Annan-led mediation team.
And last night, Mr Annan’s team issued a statement saying all parties to the negotiations would go on a retreat to a secret location to arrive at a decision.
The brief statement stated that the teams would leave Nairobi immediately after the Kamukunji.The statement read: “Kofi Annan, the chairman of the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee, invited the negotiating teams to
resume discussions outside of Nairobi with the goal of reaching an agreement on the outstanding political issues in the next 48 to 72 hours.
“During this period he has
asked for a complete news blackout. He has urged the parties not to discuss issues under negotiations with anyone outside the negotiating room. “At an appropriate time, the dialogue secretariat will issue a statement to the press to announce the outcome of these confidential talks.”
Today’s Kamkunji will be the first time MPs as a group will come together to discuss the post-election violence that has led to more than 1,000 deaths and left 300,000 displaced. The violence erupted when the Electoral Commission declared Mr Kibaki winner of the presidential race, a move opposed by ODM who said the poll had been rigged.
MPs on the Government side and those from ODM held separate parliamentary group meetings in Nairobi to get briefings on the progress of the talks.The Government PG, chaired by Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, was held at KICC, while the ODM one chaired by party leader Raila Odinga was held at County Hall.
“It was important because MPs need to know where the negotiations have reached,” said Mr Musyoka.The ODM meeting lasted about two and a half hours and was attended by at least 80 MPs. Mr Odinga and Ugenya MP James Orengo briefed the members on the current status of the talks.
Said Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey:“We’ve come to update our members about the talks aimed at seeking a solution to this political crisis.”He went on: “We’re seeking a political solution to this crisis, so it’s not prudent to keep our members in the dark about what is going on.”The Tinderet MP refused to divulge details of the meeting, saying more would be revealed in time. “The negotiation process is still on and we cannot divulge much now. We shall do so when we feel its necessary,” said the party chairman.
But, it emerged that ODM are proposing the creation of a powerful prime minister’s post and two positions of deputy.
The Government is set to place on the table its proposals today after the Speaker’s Kamukunji, and it is understood that they will suggest that ODM retains the Opposition slot as wide ranging reforms are undertaken to prepare the country for fresh elections in three years.
We also learnt that the mediation teams agreed on the immediate formation of independent review committee to inquire into the flaws of the disputed presidential elections be immediately set up.The committee, whose membership will include foreign experts, will start its work mid next month — March 15 — and will have a six-month mandate. Its findings and recommendations would be made public 14 days after the conclusion of their work, the mediation team agreed.
Other reforms include setting up of a truth, justice and reconciliation commission; reconstruction programme; correcting historical injustices; land reforms; equity and devolution; judicial and legal systems’ independent of Parliament; placing the police force under an independent commission; reconstitution of the Electoral Commission and new constituencies.
Yesterday, members of the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee left Serena Hotel without uttering a word about the talks. The instead referred all questions to their chairman, Mr Annan.Said Mbooni MP Mutula Kilonzo, the only member who accepted to make a comment: “The progress is unbelievable and a solution to the crisis is in sight.” He was then driven way.
Ministers Martha Karua, Sam Ongeri and Moses Wetang’ula, who represent the Government side, and ODM’s Musalia Mudavadi, William Ruto, Sally Kosgei and James Orengo left without a word.
It later became clear that they had gone to brief their parliamentary groups of the status of the mediation talks. ODM met its MPs at County Hall while the Government held its session at the Kenya International Conference Centre.
Mr Musyoka and Mr Wetang’ula left the venue before the end of the meeting saying they were going to meet diplomats.Briefing the media outside KICC, Mr Musyoka said the Government MPs reiterated their commitment to the mediation talks. “It was important to brief the MPs on the progress on the talks so that we’re seen to be reading from the same script,” Mr Musyoka said.
There was progress in the talks which he said had led to ceasing of the violence that engulfed the country after the results of the presidential poll were declared, a situation he said had given room for humanitarian efforts to take place.Today, Mr Annan and former South Africa First Lady Graca Machel will meet all MPs for a briefing session of the status of the talks and the role that Parliament would be required to play once the political agreement has been reached.
Said a statement from Mr Annan’s secretariat: “Mr Kofi Annan and Graca Machel will at 10 am Tuesday (today) brief Parliament at a special Kamukunji.”The briefing session, which was requested last week by the team through National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende, would be used to prevail upon MPs to play a key role in rallying their supporters behind the final resolutions of the mediation team.
The talks reached a defining moment last week when the key hurdles to a possible political settlement were dropped by both sides, paving the way for discussions on political solution. Yesterday, Mr Annan met the teams separately during the morning session before bringing them together in the afternoon for a one-hour meeting.
It is understood that ODM suggested that the premier becomes the Head of Government while the President serves as the Head of State.In line with their proposals that seek to separate the functions of the State and Government, the Executive, they submitted, should be vested in the President, prime minister, two deputy premiers and the Cabinet.
That joint government, they argued, should be based on shared and delegated executive authority, proportionality at all levels of government and balanced portfolios, among others. “This will entail minimum constitutional amendments to anchor the agreed Government framework,” ODM states in its statement.But it is understood that the Government will argue that the proposals by ODM on the presidency were so fundamental that Parliament, on its own, could pass them.
Such far reaching changes that would shift the government structure from the presidential system to the parliamentary one could only be endorsed at a referendum, they argued.
Additional reporting by Dave Opiyo and Patrick Nzioka
politics.nationmedia.com/inner.asp?pcat=NEWS&cat=TOP&sid=1470
