Ruto, Raila Teams Agree On New Timeline Of Bipartisan Talks
Azimio had given a timeframe of 30 days, but Kenya Kwanza had opposed their timeline for two weeks and tripled it to 90 days before both teams agreed on a favourable timeline.
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The 14-member Bipartisan Committee comprising Azimio la Umoja and Kenya Kwanza Parliamentarians on Wednesday, May 10 arrived at a unanimous timeline for completing the bipartisan talks.
The co-chairperson of the Bipartisan Dialogue Committee, Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, announced that the talks would take 60 days to be completed conclusively.
Azimio had given a timeframe of 30 days, but Kenya Kwanza had opposed their timeline for two weeks and tripled it to 90 days before both teams agreed on a favourable timeline.
"As Azimio, we had given a timeframe of 30 days and Kenya Kwanza 90 days. We have however agreed to constrain that time to 60 days, the more urgent issues to be dealt with within the first 30 days," Amollo addressed.
Side-by-side image of President William Ruto and Raila Odinga. /FILE
While addressing the press at the Bomas of Kenya, the Bipartisan Committee noted that they were ready to continue with the talks, and would brief the nation if there arose should a need to extend time.
With regard to preliminary objections raised by East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Kanini Kega, demanding that the Jubilee Party be included in the ongoing talks, Amollo indicated that the bipartisan committee would not attend to his demands.
"We received a letter from Jubilee protesting the removal of Adan Keynan. We took to the position that Jubilee being part of Azimio any issues they have should be discussed within Azimio Coalition
"We agreed that the question of the Constitution of respective teams is not for this team to discuss," he added.
Kega protested the omission of the Jubilee Party from the talks in a letter to the National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, lamenting that the party did not have representation of the talks after Eldas MP Adan Keynan stepped down from the 14-member lineup after complaints from the Azimio la Umoja coalition.
“The proposed mandate of your committee will have far-reaching implications in our electoral process in which Jubilee Party is a major stakeholder. As the third largest political party in Parliament, we strongly protest the exclusion of Jubilee Party in the committee," Kega complained.
The party called for deliberations on the proposed bipartisan process to be halted until the former ruling party is considered.
Kega further issued a 14-day ultimatum, after which it would pursue legal action in the event the committee proceeds with the talks, without a representative from Jubilee.
On May 4, Raila revealed that the coalition had instructed its seven-member team for the bipartisan talks with the Kenya Kwanza government to make it clear that the talks should be concluded in 30 days from the date of commencement.
Four days later, Raila urged Ruto's team not to renege on the bipartisan talks, giving both the Kenya Kwanza team and Azimio two days (until Wednesday, May 10) to commence the talks, failure to which, he would cancel them and explore alternatives.
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