Roundup: Kenya's political stability at stake amid electoral reform stand-off

Street protests in the past weeks have become the hallmark of Kenya's opposition leaders' push for radical reforms in the electoral process, putting the east African nation at a perilous political and economic path, analysts told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Since early April, weekly street demonstrations in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and several towns in the western part of the country have dominated headlines, sending disturbing signals to local and foreign investors, international partners and ordinary citizens.

The opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) has organized these protests, citing the government's reluctance to engage key stakeholders to fast-track an overhaul of the electoral body, which supervises next year's general elections.

According to CORD's principals, ex-Prime Minister Raila Odinga, former Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and former foreign affairs minister Moses Wetangula, overhauling the current structure of the electoral body to include appointment of new commissioners is an imperative to avoid a repeat of 2007-08 post-poll chaos next year.

Experts who spoke to Xinhua agreed the current stand-off, pitting the ruling coalition against their opposition rivals over disbandment of the electoral body, bodes ill for Kenya's stability and economic growth.

Joshua Kivuva, a political scientist at the University of Nairobi, said that given the rising political temperatures in Kenya, the government and opposition had no choice but to commence dialogue on how to resolve stalemate over electoral reforms.

"Each party in the current dispute over how to reform our electoral machine has legitimate concerns that should be listened to avoid unending paralysis," Kivuva told Xinhua in an interview.

"While I do not support violent protests in our cities, it is incumbent upon the government and opposition to find a middle ground and appoint new commissioners to the electoral body," he added.

The CORD has time and again expressed dissatisfaction with the institutional structure of the electoral body alongside unethical conduct of some of its commissioners.

Since revelations emerged two years ago that several electoral commissioners took bribes from a British firm during procurement of biometric voter register, the opposition has intensified pressure on them to vacate office.

The opposition chiefs alleged the commissioners could have tampered with the March 2013 general elections in favor of the incumbent administration led by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Two months have almost lapsed since the street protests commenced, and despite a brief lull occasioned by a casual encounter between Kenyatta, his Deputy William Ruto and opposition chiefs, the stalemate has once again hit a crescendo.

After the brief encounter, both the government and opposition gave differing narratives on what was agreed upon.

President Kenyatta and his deputy trashed claims that a deal was struck with the opposition to form a 10-member committee to look into institutional reforms at the electoral body.

The opposition, on the other hand, insisted a deal was struck and gave the ruling coalition a one-week ultimatum to sit with them on a table of dialogue, failure to which protests would resume.

Street protests resumed on Monday upon expiry of this ultimatum, and opposition chiefs vowed not to relent until their demands were met.

According to Kivuva and a host of experts who spoke to Xinhua, the street protests, while legitimate, may not offer durable solution to institutional deficiencies in Kenya's electoral body.

"As a country, we have made great strides in expansion of democratic space, liberties and civil rights for the last two decades. We must therefore desist from actions that would erode these gains. Dialogue rather than confrontations is only way to end the current stalemate over electoral reforms," Kivuva remarked.

He lauded a bipartisan initiative launched by lawmakers from both sides of the political divide a fortnight ago to spearhead reforms in the electoral process.

Barrack Muluka, a political commentator, said on the national television that the current anti-electoral body street protests had not reached a level where they would precipitate a civil strife.

"What is abundantly clear as for now is that our opposition is flexing its political muscle to pass a critical message to their rivals in the ruling coalition. We cannot conclude there is total breakdown of law and order because of these protests," said Muluka.

Nevertheless, he warned that hard-line positions adopted by the government and opposition over the disbandment of the electoral body before next year polls bode ill for Kenya's stability, cohesion and growth. Endit