Kenya’s opposition on Thursday demanded that embattled President Mwai Kibaki dissolve Parliament and call snap elections after he fired his Cabinet in response to the embarrassing rejection this week of a new Constitution he backed.
As the media lauded the unprecedented mass sacking as a step to restore shaken confidence in Kibaki’s leadership following the defeat of the draft charter in a Monday referendum, the opposition said the move did not go far enough.
At the same time, debate raged over the firings, with some saying the step was illegal.
”More than even the Cabinet, it is Parliament which was the central player in the betrayal of the people’s Constitution,” said spokesperson William Ruto.
”This Parliament is now discredited and the president must dissolve it to pave the way for the people of Kenya to elect representatives with a new mandate,” he told reporters.
Ruto, the executive secretary of the opposition Kenya African National Union, said the current Parliament defied the wishes of the people by agreeing with Kibaki to send the new charter to a referendum.
He stopped short of calling for the president to resign, but under Kenya’s existing Constitution the president must be an MP and a presidential election must be held if he is not returned to the legislature in polls to choose a new National Assembly.
Should Kibaki decide to dissolve Parliament, new legislative elections must be held within three months.
There was no immediate reaction from Kibaki, who sacked his divided Cabinet to reassert his authority 24 hours after conceding defeat in the referendum on the first major change to Kenya’s Constitution since independence from Britain in 1963.
Candidates
Officials said on Thursday that Kibaki had begun vetting candidates to replace the 29 ministers and their deputies whom he fired as most reported to clear personal effects from their former offices.
”The president made the right decision … but I hope to be appointed in the next Cabinet,” former education minister Beth Mugo told reporters.
Nearly 60% of voters rejected the proposal that had retained near absolute powers in the Presidency, dealing Kibaki a major blow amid deep splits in his administration and public disenchantment with his rule.
Analysts said the president would consult with his critics in the sacked Cabinet, notably influential former roads minister Raila Odinga, who led the charge against the draft after helping Kibaki win 2002 elections.
They said he would also likely seek advice from his predecessor, Daniel arap Moi, who ran the East African nation with an iron fist for 24 years before retiring after Kibaki bested his chosen successor in those polls.
Kibaki has been criticised for failing to follow through on numerous campaign pledges for reform, and the defeat of the Constitution was widely seen as a no-confidence vote.
His lacklustre performance, particularly on fighting corruption and entrenched tribalism, has left many Kenyans sceptical about whether the 74-year-old economist has the stamina to push through real change.
All of Kenya’s major newspapers backed Kibaki’s boldness in firing the entire Cabinet, which had been mired in disputes over the new Constitution and unable to meet since July, but legal experts debated its legality.
Attorney General Amos Wako said Kibaki acted within the law, but veteran lawyer and opposition lawmaker Mutula Kilonzo disagreed.
”It’s totally illegal and unconstitutional what the president has done,” Mutula said. ”The country cannot be without a Cabinet, not even for a minute.” — Sapa-AFP