Tuesday, March 30, 2010

PRINCIPALS FOR PARLIAMENT

Principals of the grand coalition government President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga head to Parliament on Tuesday as debate on the draft constitution enters the penultimate stage.

Members of Parliament have the draft constitution until Thursday, when it must move to the next stage of the review process.

House Speaker Kenneth Marende has set aside Wednesday as the day MPs will vote to amend the document. Any amendments would then be referred to the Committee of Experts for refining ahead of a referendum on the document.

Even though he is also the MP for Othaya, President Kibaki rarely attends parliamentary debate. He usually only goes to parliament to perform his duty as Head of State during ceremonial occasions.

MPs have until end of Tuesday to suggest amendments ahead of voting on them on Wednesday. So far, there has been no agreement between the Grand Coalition parties - the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the Party of National Unity (PNU) - over the amendments.

By Monday, about 50 proposed amendments had been lodged with the Speaker’s office. They include the contentious issues of abortion, devolution, kadhis courts, among others.

To make any amendment to the draft, 145 MPs (a two thirds majority of the House) most vote for it.

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