Jubilee mulls Parliamentary system to end election fights

President Uhuru Kenyatta with Westlands Primary School KCPE candidates on Wednesday November 1, 2017. /PSCU

Menior leaders in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party are discussing amending the Constitution to introduce a Parliamentary system of government and a Prime Minister.

Multiple leaders separately told the Star yesterday the current winner-take-all presidential system is not good for the country because it creates instability every five years.

It is understood Deputy President William Ruto favours the proposal discussed informally among Jubilee leaders.

President-elect Kenyatta is yet to be briefed on the discussions and proposals.

“We must find a way to make the country more stable and we should be able to accommodate more people in the leadership, a Jubilee MP close to the presidency told the Star.

“At the moment, the positions of President and DP are the most important and as long as they remain like that, it will not matter who occupies them; they will always be seen as exclusive.”

Calls for a parliamentary system are gaining momentum.

NCCK secretary general Canon Peter Karanja on Tuesday suggested the Executive should be expanded to include a Prime Minister, two deputies and a Leader of the Opposition. This would foster unity and peace, he said.

Karanja said the 2010 Constitution perpetuates division by completely locking out the opposition from power.

“These divisions are expressions of unresolved grievances and perceptions of exclusion and denial of dignity of the opposition by the arrangement of power as defined in the Constitution of 2010,” Karanja said.

It was not clear if those involved in the new discussions want the changes to apply to the current political system.

Yesterday Majority Leader Aden Duale said although he supports constitutional amendments suggested by NCCK, Jubilee will not support amendments aimed at creating positions for individuals.

This appeared to be a reference to NASA and its plan, if elected, to amend the Constitution and create posts for its co-principals.

“We cannot make amendments to the Constitution to award jobs to people. That is not enshrined in the spirit of our Constitution. Kenyans voted for this Constitution to have a presidential system of leadership,” he said.

“We cannot bring Kenyans to a parliamentary system just because some people have seen the current Constitution does not give them leadership. We should only amend the Constitution in the interest of all Kenyans. This issue of giving jobs to people who have lost a presidential contest should not be there,” he said.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga previously has said a parliamentary system, such as those India or Singapore, is best suited for Kenya. This was also the stand of ODM in 2009 during discussions leading to final drafting of the Constitution.

Yesterday, Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o said he and many in the opposition share that view.

“First, it would remove the near-fratricidal wars we have every five years to elect one person to one post called the President. It is not worth it: too expensive, too divisive, too prone to give ruthless tycoons influence and access to the most powerful office in the land and too amenable to the politics of exclusion,” he said.

Second, he said, it would create a healthier environment for coalition politics that is emerging as the political process for national integration and unity in diversity.

Under a parliamentary system, political parties, no matter their origin, would campaign for parliamentary and county assembly seats. Each party would aim to control government either at the county or national level, provided it won the majority. If it lacks a majority, it would seek a coalition with others and produce the Prime Minister as leader of the national government.

Kenya’s Constitution established a government system akin to a federation, with legislative authority shared between the national Parliament and county legislatures. At the national level, Kenya has a bicameral Parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate. MPs are elected for five-year terms.

The Constitution adopted a presidential system to achieve a sharper separation of powers between the Executive and the Legislature and reduce undue influence of the former over the latter.

The Judiciary also is supposed to be independent of both other branches.

The President and his Cabinet are not members of Parliament. Of the 350 members of the National Assembly, 290 members of either gender are elected directly from single-member constituencies. Forty-seven women members are elected directly from each county, and 12 representatives of special interests are nominated by parties based on their strength in Parliament.

The 68-member Senate has 47 members directly elected from each county and 20 members nominated by political parties, according to their share of seats.

Speakers of both houses are ex-officio members.

The legislative process involves one or both houses of Parliament, depending on the issue. Bills not affecting county governments are considered only in the National Assembly. This is because the primary function of the Senate is to protect the interests of the counties within the national government.

The legislative process in both houses mainly follows five steps: publication of the proposed Bill in the Kenya Gazette: first reading; second reading; referral to committee, where amendments are considered; and third reading, including vote.

The President either signs into law, or sends back for reconsideration every Bill adopted by both houses.

Suba South MP and ODM chairman John Mbadi said the debate on Constitutional amendment is welcome, however, he faulted the way religious leaders proposed it in a public statement.

“It is not too late for the church to propose a government structure but it should propose in a proper way. It should bring the proposal to the People’s Assembly,” he said, referring to NASA’s plan for national and county people’s assemblies.

Buuri MP Rindikiri Mugambi of Jubilee told the Star this is the wrong time to change the Constitution just to craft the “failed ambitions of some politicians” — a reference to NASA.

Calls for dialogue to amend the Constitution are premature, he said.

“If we have this culture of changing laws to accommodate election losers, then we will have many changes to the Constitution in future as leaders will be demanding dialogue and power,” he said.

Source:the-star.co.ke