The Wall Street Journal-20080115-Politics -amp- Economics- Kenya-s Parliament To Meet Amid Turmoil
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Politics & Economics: Kenya's Parliament To Meet Amid Turmoil
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Kenya's political chaos is expected to be on display in the national legislature today when Parliament convenes for its first session since last month's flawed presidential elections. Opposition leaders have called for a protest within the chamber today and for nationwide demonstrations beginning tomorrow, prolonging a political standoff and raising the prospect of more violence.
Early last week, President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga made some tentative steps toward reconciliation after voting late last month disintegrated into widespread violence and ethnic killing. Both sides have since reversed course, and Kenyans are hunkering down again.
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected here today or tomorrow to help broker talks between the two sides. But a senior cabinet minister and close Kibaki ally rejected Mr. Annan's mission even before his arrival, according to news reports.
Election officials declared President Kibaki the winner of the Dec. 27 vote. Challenger Mr. Odinga says polling was rigged, and demonstrations by his supporters fanned violence, which has so far displaced more than 230,000 and left an estimated 575 dead, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society, although that number could be much higher. The international community has denounced the results as flawed.
Mr. Odinga's party says it plans to send its 99 elected lawmakers to the opening session of Parliament today. But last week, party leaders said they will take their seats on the government's side of the chamber, a dig at Mr. Kibaki's leadership and a provocative move that raises the possibility of shoving matches, or worse, inside a house of government. Along with minor parties that have sided with him, Mr. Odinga controls 103 seats, compared with Mr. Kibaki's 61.
Even if Parliament convenes peacefully, its first order of business, the election of a speaker and deputy speaker, could compound the political discord because neither side has the two-thirds majority of the 222-seat body needed to elect a candidate.
The opposition has also called for three days of nationwide protests beginning tomorrow. Two previous rallies, scheduled for Uhuru Park, a large meadow in Nairobi, were banned by the government and ended in sporadic clashes with police.
The largely peaceful election was supposed to secure Kenya's reputation as a model for democracy on the continent. The country was enjoying a booming economy -- the largest in East Africa -- and served as a business and transportation hub for the region. As a spot of calm in the midst of its war-torn neighbors, Kenya also played an important peacemaking role.
The two sides appeared to be inching closer to a resolution last week, when they agreed to negotiate through an international mediator after a visit from the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer. Ghanaian President John Kufuor, the current African Union chairman, flew in to meet with both parties but failed to bring the men into the same room. Mr. Kibaki then announced the appointment of half his cabinet, infuriating Mr. Odinga and his opposition allies.
The dispute has pitted the two men's tribes against each other, inflaming long-held animosities. Mr. Odinga, a Luo, campaigned on the notion that Mr. Kibaki had funneled more resources to his own tribe, the Kikuyus. If he won, Mr. Odinga promised to right that imbalance, endearing himself to many Luos and members of other tribes, such as the Kalenjins, who are frustrated by the country's growing income gap.
Mr. Odinga now says he can't negotiate with Mr. Kibaki as long as he considers himself president; Mr. Kibaki maintains that he was fairly elected.
Outside Kenya's big cities, the thousands of Kikuyus who were driven from their homes and had their businesses looted and torched are clustered in camps on the outskirts of towns. Those who drove them out -- mainly Kalenjins and Luos -- live in fear of reprisals.
