Kenya’s ruling Jubilee Party on Thursday presented parliament with proposals meant to prevent the nullification of presidential results by the Supreme Court, following the cancellation of the August presidential election.
According to the proposed amendments to the electoral laws, the court would not be allowed to invalidate results if electoral transmissions fail again. The results transmitted manually would be final.
The Supreme Court on September 1 nullified the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta, citing irregularities in the transmission process of the results.
Following that ruling, Uhuru announced that he accepted but disagreed with it. In later public rallies, the president said he would “revisit” it after the repeat poll.
Last week, the president termed the Supreme Court’s ruling as a “judicial coup”, saying it had cancelled the will of the people.
The fresh vote is scheduled to be conducted on October 26, with only Uhuru and opposition leader Raila Odinga being on the ballot.
The opposition NASA coalition led by Raila is however not keen on having the election held before changes in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). It has demanded the resignation of some officers of the commission, including the C.E.O. Ezra Chiloba.
The Jubillee side however says accused the opposition of trying to frustrate the electoral process by making unrealistic demands.
The IEBC on Thursday met with both Jubilee and NASA in the capital Nairobi, but immediately after that meeting both sides termed it as unsuccessful.
The electoral authority however said it had identified some issues that it would deal with in preparation for the October 26 vote.
