Jubilee Makes Changes to its Election Plan

Jubilee Members of Parliament (MPs) have made critical changes to the proposed amendments to electoral laws that will affect the repeat Presidential election scheduled for October 26th.

The joint select committee charged with handling the amendments has dropped a clause which stipulates that the Vice-chairperson of IEBC should act as the boss of the electoral commission in the absence of the Chairman.

Another clause discarded, ahead of the electoral amendments debate scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, is the clause that sought to reduce the quorum at the commission from five to three members.

The Joint Committee has also discarded the section in the proposed amendment that could have allowed non-lawyers to chair the electoral agency.

[caption caption="Jubilee MPs"][/caption]

The Bill has proposed that it should not be mandatory for the chair to be a lawyer with qualifications of a judge of the High Court.

Deputy Majority Leader Katoo ole Metito on Tuesday morning indicated that "the committee has endorsed eight clauses out of eleven."

He stated that the team had also dropped proposed changes to qualifications of the chair, a post currently held by Wafula Chebukati.

Meanwhile, National Super Alliance (NASA) MPs have maintained their stand that they will not participate in the electoral amendments debate.

The Parliamentary joint select committee on Elections Laws Amendment Bill is expected to report back to both Houses after a week of gathering public input on the proposed law.

NASA maintains the amendments are in bad faith claiming it is an attempt by Jubilee to bungle the election, while the IEBC has expressed its displeasure with the changes to the laws noting it might affect the ongoing preparations for the repeat poll.

Jubilee Party, however, maintains they are amending the Electoral laws to align them with the ruling of the Supreme Court.

[caption caption="Aden Duale"][/caption]