Musalia Mudavadi, the Amani National Congress (ANC) leader on Sunday, May 17, addressed speculation around the possibility of parties in the NASA coalition merging with the Jubilee Party.
Appearing in an Interview on KTN News, the ANC leader stated that none of the major parties in the coalition – Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) led by Raila Odinga, Wiper Democratic Movement (Kalonzo Musyoka), Forum for the Restoration of Democracy – Kenya (FORD-Kenya) led by Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula and the ANC party had exited the pact and therefore could not go on to build official alliances with other parties.
“The NASA coalition is still in play. Any party in the NASA coalition can only enter into another coalition if it resigns,” he explained adding that there had not seen any official communication by the member parties signalling an exit.
He added that there were protocols laid down for a member to exit as the Political Parties Act did not allow for a party to be a member of two coalitions at the same time.
Mudavadi also stated the law applied for his party as well, “The law does not allow us to enter a coalition with other parties,” adding that they were planning to carry on with their duties as the opposition.
The ANC leader further opined that the measures carried out by the Jubilee Party in taming its rebel members were well within the party’s constitution.
“I can’t speak for Jubilee but they are working withing their party structures, within the Political Parties Act. For the President to fulfill his promises to the citizens, he must expect maximum co-operation from his party and his officers in government,” Mudavadi conveyed.
He added that, as the opposition, he was willing to work with the president on certain elements that were beneficial to the country’s development.
“If Uhuru is fighting corruption; if he’s putting up a team to revive the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic is over, then we as the opposition would be foolish not to support him. We want the country to move in the right direction,” he added.
After the post-election agreement between KANU and Jubilee was made official (now suspended), Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka revealed that his party was ready to enter into a coalition agreement with the two noting that they would be guided by the provisions of the NASA coalition agreement.
At the same time, on Wednesday, May 13, ODM Secretary-General, Edwin Sifuna disclosed that his party was weighing options of merging with Jubilee and other parties that share similar ideologies.
