Why Azimio has suspended the bipartisan talks with government
The opposition’s Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition has suspended the bipartisan talks with the government’s Kenya Kwanza side for seven days citing challenges in getting a breakthrough on the arising matters.
Announcing the move, Nairobi senator Edwin Sifuna, accused the government side of failure to show commitment to the talks.
“After we could not persuade our friends from Kenya Kwanza to concede to some common sense interim measures namely lowering of the cost of Unga, preservation of the Election Servers among other issues, we have decided to suspend the talks,” said Sifuna.
Azimio further accused Kenya Kwanza of failing to suspend Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission’s (IEBC) reconstitution and failure to leave the Jubilee party alone.
“These are necessary in our view in order to safeguard the outcome of the talks. We hope sense shall prevail,” he added.
The move to suspend the talks come just a day after Azimio La Umoja Co-Principal Kalonzo Musyoka warned the opposition coalition would quit bipartisan talks if the government continues to interfere with the running of the Jubilee party, which is associated with former president Uhuru Kenyatta.
“If those who have removed themselves from the party decide to do their own delegates convention then they should know there will be no bi-partisan talks. We will leave them and know they don’t believe in plural democracy,” he said.
The Wiper Party Leader asserted that the Kega led faction which claimed to have removed former President Uhuru Kenyatta as the party leader and subsequently expelled David Murathe (Deputy Party Leader) and Jeremiah Kioni (Secretary General) should honorably exit the party and join forces with Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
“If you want the bi-partisan talks to continue from today, those who have left Jubilee should respect multi democracy by allowing by-elections in the seats that they won,” he added.
The talks were called as a compromise in stopping the anti-government protests called by Azimio leader Raila Odinga.
Mr Odinga who finished second behind President William Ruto in the August 2022 polls, has claimed he was rigged out of the poll. He has also demanded the Head of State lowers the high cost of living.
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