Kenya political dispute moves to parliament
Kenya's feuding political leaders braced for a showdown Tuesday at the first sitting of parliament since disputed presidential elections, with opposition MPs vowing to occupy the government benches.
The face-off was scheduled ahead of the arrival of former UN chief Kofi Annan to take over efforts to mediate a resolution to the political deadlock.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga claims he was robbed of the presidency in the widely-contested December re-election of President Mwai Kibaki that triggered a wave of deadly violence, killing more than 700 people and displacing a quarter of a million.
Central Nairobi was under a virtual lockdown ahead of the opening of the parliamentary session at around 1130 GMT, with a massive police deployment including elite paramilitary units.
A showdown was expected inside the chamber after Odinga vowed his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, which won the most seats in the December 27 polls, would sit on the government benches.
Neither side secured a majority in legislative vote -- held the same day as the disputed presidential polls -- prompting a fight to woo smaller parties ahead of the chamber's re-opening.
"We have already done an audit and established that we have the majority on the floor of the House," said Mutula Kilonzo, the spokesman of the government side.
The opposition made it clear that they would challenge any such assumption.
"The battle will today shift to the House after they rigged us out," said ODM member William Ruto. "We are determined to ensure that Kenyans get what they deserve and that is justice attained during the polling".
The first contest of political strength was expected to be the election for the speaker.
Odinga's ODM secured 99 seats, making it by far the largest single party to sit in parliament, while the PNU led by Kibaki, whose re-election has not been recognised by the ODM, mustered only 43 seats.
The speaker's election requires a two-third majority for the first two rounds, but requires only a simple majority if the vote moves to a third round.
Four candidates have entered the race, with the government side supporting the re-election of veteran speaker Francis ole Kaparo, and the opposition pushing their own choice.
Kofi Annan was expected in Nairobi late Tuesday to lead a panel of senior African political figures in the latest attempt to resolve the political deadlock, ahead of mass opposition protests planned for three days starting Wednesday.
"The interests of the nation and the people must be paramount," said Annan in a statement prior to his departure. He faces a Herculean task that last week defied his fellow countryman, African Union chief and Ghana president John Kufuor.
Graca Machel, the wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa were due to accompany Annan.
The government on Monday once again rejected the need for international mediation.
"We won the elections so we do not see the point for anyone coming to mediate power-sharing," Roads and Public Works Minister John Michuki, a hardline member of Kibaki's new cabinet, told reporters.
Many feared further clashes between police and opposition supporters during the banned rallies planned to start Wednesday.
Odinga has ignored pleas by religious leaders to call off the protests and insisted that police have no right to bar the rallies.
Both sides put out full-page advertisements in the main newspapers Tuesday to push their positions on the protests.
A human rights group also published a full-page advert using photographs from the recent unrest, and calling for dialogue.
"Let's all say a big 'No' to politics of incitement," said the advert sponsored by Kenyans for Peace and Progress.
Police say more than 700 people were killed in riots and tribal killings following the announcement of Kibaki's re-election amid international concerns over flaws in the vote tallying.
Some 260,000 people have had to flee their homes since the violence erupted, prompting an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in a country more accustomed to sheltering refugees from neighbouring, strife-torn states.
AFP
