A Kenyan has filed a petition at IEBC seeking to have those who come second in presidential election get slots in the National Assembly and Senate.
Nyongesa Makhanu, a Nairobi based architect wants the constitution changed so that the runners up presidential candidate, who is automatically the opposition leader, can join the National parliament as nominated MP while his running mate joins the senate.
“A major setback presented by our Constitution is that, it did not provide the worthy competitor in the presidential contest with any formal position in the three arms Government. This scenario denies the republic an opportunity to have an effective parliamentary oversight of the executive,” he said.
This means that if his petition is successful, Raila Odinga and his running mate who were candidates in the August 9 general elections could head back to parliament. Raila served as an MP from 1997-2013.
In his petition, Makhanu further seeks to have the election date changed from the second Tuesday of August to the third week of December.
According to him, December is the suitable period for elections as there will be minimal interruption of school and work calendar. He further says that the time has minimal economic effect.
Aside from that, Makhanu wants a president to be elected from a community different from the outgoing and immediate former president.
“Informed by the fact that one of the leading contestants in the 2007 presidential contest was from a third community, the contest became very antagonistic along ethnic cleavages. Other than those from first community, citizens from other communities did not readily accept the outcome as announced by the Electoral Commission, and hence, precipitated the post-election violence and crimes against humanity,” Makhanu wrote.
He however noted that if enacted, the change should not apply to the sitting president and his deputy.
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