|
|
Kenya: MPs Pass First Part of Crisis Deal
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Monitor (Kampala)
19 March 2008
Posted to the web 18 March 2008
Bryson Hull & Wangui Kanina
Nairobi
Kenya's parliament on Tuesday unanimously passed the first of two laws to enact a power-sharing deal designed to end the country's bloody post-election crisis.
In a 200-0 vote, legislators approved the constitutional amendment making positions in the cabinet for a prime minister and two deputies.
And the legislators appeared ready on Tuesday to move to a vote on the next bill required, a law to create those posts in a new coalition government agreed under last month's deal to end a crisis that killed at least 1,000 people.
Legislators had been expected to pass the changes needed after shows of support from both camps, despite some backroom wrangling and threats from hardliners.
Under the accord signed by President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, the premier's job will go to the leader of the party with the most seats in parliament -- in this case, Odinga.
Investors in Kenya's economy -- knocked hard by the crisis but still seen as being among Africa's most promising -- are keenly watching whether the deal will go through smoothly.
Violence erupted after Odinga accused Kibaki of stealing the December election. In addition to the killings, at least 300,000 people were left homeless.
Once parliament has passed all the legislation needed, Odinga will become prime minister and his party and Kibaki's coalition will name a deputy each. The cabinet will also be split evenly between both sides to form a unity government.
That administration must then tackle the bigger task of changing Kenya's constitution within 12 months to address underlying issues of power, inequality and land which the eruption of political violence laid bare.
"Where we have come to now is a joy," Kibaki told parliament before Tuesday's vote, making a rare appearance in his capacity as a legislator.
"We are genuinely seeking a solution to our problem. I am quite sure myself that we have found an answer. I have no doubt that everybody in this house will agree -- let us above all write the constitution."
Odinga also addressed the chamber before the vote:
"We know why we are where we are, but let us get out of this place. We need to feel part and parcel of one and the same. Let us now fuse together as one people who want to do something for the people of Kenya," he said to loud applause.
When he brokered the deal, former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan separated his solution into two -- an immediate power-sharing agreement and then tasked the new government with fixing the underlying problems through a constitutional review.
|
Matters of land, power and inequality had cropped up during violence in earlier elections, but never on the scale they did this time around -- dealing a big setback to an economy powered by tourism, trade and agriculture.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
