Wetangula Moses, The speaker of the national assembly, has encouraged the Azimio la Umoja coalition and Kenya Kwanza political government to consult and agree on the terms and circumstances for the bipartisan negotiations, the survival of which is now in doubt after the opposition threatened to pull out.
The Azimio coalition party has threatened to withdraw from proposed bipartisan talks with their Kenya Kwanza members, claiming that the government has no intention of holding any dialogue, let alone an honest, transparent, and bipartisan debate.
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, speaking to the press after a meeting of Azimio la Umoja members of Parliament, enumerated several reasons why they believed the Kenya Kwanza coalition was not serious about the talks, the most recent of which was Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwa's decision to table a motion to discuss and approve members of the bipartisan talks committee.
According to Kalonzo, the motion was made in bad faith because it did not include Azimio leaders, who had insisted on an extra-parliamentary procedure.
Did you read this?
However, Speaker Wetangula read the motion from Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah announcing the coalition's nominees in Parliament.
Speaker Wetangula requested that all parties consult and seek an agreement on the motion's terms and conditions before bringing it to the floor.
The speaker appealed that the leaders of the majority and minority parties owe it to this house and the country to sit together, avoid dangerous brinkmanship, and present something before the house that advances the intentions of the president and former prime minister. Don't pander to the crowd; do all you can to help the process.
Ichung'wah concurred with Speaker Wetangula, adding that for peace to prevail, both leaders must communicate and reach an agreement for the benefit of all citizens.
"I am confident that working and reasoning together, we should be able to sit as leaders and be able to come up with solutions and harmonize the motion on what this committee will be doing and by the time the motion of approval of that committee comes, we will not be in a position of throwing words at each other either in the house or outside," Ichungwa said.
