Jubilee, Cord to pick new IEBC chiefs selection team

From left: Deputy President William Ruto, Senator Moses Wetang’ula, Cord leader Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi on May 31, 2016. PHOTO | SAMUEL MIRING'U 

By EDWIN MUTAI, emutai@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• Parliamentary team proposes that each coalition should name two people - a man and a woman- to sit on the panel.
• The parliamentary deal comes days after Cord suspended its weekly protests against the IEBC to give dialogue a chance.

Jubilee and Cord are set to nominate members to a panel that will pick the next Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chiefs in a deal reached at Parliament as opposition leader Raila Odinga met President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House in Nairobi on Tuesday.

State House said Mr Odinga, who was accompanied by Senate Minority Leader Moses Wetang’ula, held a brief meeting but did indicate whether talks centred on the IEBC matter.

Jubilee and Cord will nominate two persons each- a man and a woman- to sit on the panel, according to the Justice and Legal Affairs committee proposals.

“The committee proposes that the selection panel shall be composed of seven persons to be approved by Parliament and appointed by the president,” Samuel Chepkonga, the committee chairman said.

The Public Service Commission will recruit three persons who are members of any political party through a competitive process to sit in the panel.

The parliamentary deal comes days after Cord suspended its weekly protests against the IEBC to give dialogue a chance.

Despite the apparent thawing of relationships between the two coalitions, Cord plans to hold its public meeting Wednesday at Uhuru Park parallel to the official celebrations to be presided over by Mr Kenyatta at Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium.

The opposition accuses the IEBC of bias and wants its commissioners to be replaced. The IEBC members have dismissed the charges while the government has accused the opposition of criticising the electoral agency because they cannot win via the ballot box.

US, British and other Western ambassadors have recently increased calls for talks to resolve the issue.

READ: Cord suspends demos as MPs fail to agree on IEBC reform proposals

Besides the IEBC selection panel, the Chepkonga committee seeks to amendment the law to extend the period for settling presidential elections petitions from the current 14 days to 30 days.

The radical electoral reforms also call for the minimum education qualification for MPs to set at a university degree and Members of County Assembly (MCA) post-secondary qualifications like a diploma.

The MCA’s qualification will be enhanced to a degree from a university recognised in Kenya after the 2017 General Election.

If the proposals are adopted , political parties will nominate their candidates 90 days before the General Election, up from 45 days currently stipulated in the Elections Act.

Parties will hear and determine all internal disputes arising from nominations within 40 days and submit nomination rules six months before an election and party membership lists to the IEBC 120 days to the date of a General Election or 45 days before a by-election.