The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has petitioned the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), asking the electoral body to be flexible with the nominations timelines.
Speaking to the media, ODM Secretary General, Edwin Sifuna said the time IEBC has allocated for party primaries and nominations is not enough for the party.
According to the constitution, all the parties are allocated 80 days for the nominations. Out of these, only one week is set to hold party primaries.
The opposition party leaders now want the electoral body to revise these dates to enable ODM to hold their primaries effectively.
“ODM is a big party, and one week is not enough for us to hold party primaries,” Sifuna said.
The IEBC had set April 9, 2022, as the last day for submitting names of party primaries to the electoral body, and holding party primaries be held between April 16 and April 22.
After the conclusion of primaries, candidates will have until May 9 to decide whether they are still party members or quit.
By May 13, the electoral body will gazette all names of independent candidates, and those who will have lost in the primaries will be allowed to run as independent candidates.
According to Sifuna, ODM petitioned IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati, to ask him to extend the timelines by 10 days, and specifically add days to the one week set to hold primaries.
“Chebukati promised to address the matter once the commission is fully constituted. This has been attained, and we expect him to address the matter,” Sifuna noted.
Sifuna proceeded to say that each party is allowed to work in their own distinctive way, and ODM is asking for more time because of its membership size.
“Parties are not the same. ODM is unique as it is the largest party in the country, and so we will need more time to conduct free and fair elections across the country,” he concluded.
