STATEMENT BY JUBILEE PARTY ON COMPOSITION OF MEMBERS TO THE PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMITTEE
This morning the Jubilee Parliamentary Group Meeting resolved among other things to select 11 members to participate with an equal number from the CORD Coalition in a Select Committee on the IEBC.
We have seen from the CORD statement that there a proposal of another four member committee that we as a Party are unaware about. There has not been any suggestion or agreement on this four-member committee.
We have however received communication through the Inter Religious Council of Kenya subsequent to their meeting with CORD on some outstanding issues and we wish to list the issues and our response to them.
Issues raised by CORD:
Limit the representatives of each Coalition to a maximum of seven
Appointees should not be subject to Parliamentary approval
The negotiating teams should have joint chairs. One from Jubilee and one from CORD.
The negotiating teams to have four joint Secretaries. Two from each coalition who should not be parliamentarians or parliamentary staff.
The Speakers of the National Assembly and Senate should not be involved in the negotiations.
The negotiation process should not be subjected to standing orders.
The members will report to their respective Coalitions.
The negotiations will have a time frame of four weeks.
The product of negotiations will be tabled in Parliament with no possibility of a negative vote.
Our response is as follows:
We as Jubilee Party had proposed as a maximum 11 members from each side. But we are willing to accept CORD’s proposal of seven members subject to our next Parliamentary Group meeting.
We as Jubilee Party are bound by rules and procedures of Parliament which require that the members be approved by Parliament and we undertake as Jubilee through our Parliamentary Group and whips to ensure that the names suggested by all parties are passed.
It is Jubilee Party’s position that the issue of Chairmanship is a dynamic should be sorted out by the committee itself.
The tradition, practice and standing orders of Parliament recognizes the Clerk of the National Assembly as an Independent Institution to be the Secretariat of all Parliamentary Committees. History and hansard reports prove the independence of the office.
We will not allow the independence of the and there is no room for the injection of strangers into parliamentary business. As Jubilee Party we will engage professionals on the relevant matters to advice on our position to be presented to the select committee and we urge our colleagues in CORD to do the same.
As Jubilee Party we agree that the two Speakers should not be involved in the negotiations. The two Speakers should perform their constitutional mandate under the standing order to ensure that the committee acts in accordance with the Standing Orders and the Constitution.
The Select Committee should operate in accordance with the traditions, practice and norms of Parliament as is set out in the Standing Orders and the Constitution.
As Jubilee Party we agree that members should engage, consult and report to their respective Political Parties and should be subject to their respective Parliamentary whips as is provided for in the Standing Orders and the Constitution and that is why we as Jubilee did not issue any pronouncement before we went to our Parliamentary Group meeting.
We as Jubilee Party agree that time is of the essence and as resolved by our Parliamentary Group this morning, the business of the Select Committee should be concluded in one month if not less. As such we ask our CORD colleagues to agree to the start of the negotiations without any undue delay, as we must keep to the electoral timetable.
The product of the deliberations in the Select Committee will be tabled in Parliament as is the tradition and requirement of the Standing Orders and the Constitution. As a leadership we agree that we will mobilize and marshal our members to ensure the success of the deliberations and obtain a positive result. As a democracy we cannot guarantee a particular outcome of a Parliamentary vote.
This is the position of Jubilee Party. We once again reiterate that it is our collective responsibility to ensure free, fair, credible, transparent and peaceful elections in 2017.
9th JUNE 2016
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