Azimio la Umoja Coalition, headed by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, on Wednesday, May 3, suspended its countrywide protests scheduled for Thursday, May 4.
In a statement, the coalition noted that the decision was arrived at after a meeting encompassing its leadership following an earlier decision by Kenya Kwanza Bipartisan Committee to drop Eldas MP Adan Keynan from its line-up.
"This evening, the leadership of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party met and agreed to once more suspend the mass protests that we had earlier scheduled to continue tomorrow.
"The coalition took this step following the decision by Kenya Kwanza to accede to one of our demands that informed the resumption of mass action," read the statement in part.
Instead, the coalition invited its Bipartisan team for a meeting to strategise its approach before the next round of negotiations kick off.
"Instead of holding the protests, we have summoned our seven-member delegation to the bipartisan committee for fresh instructions to inform further engagement with the Kenya Kwanza side," added the Committee.
The coalition, however, reiterated that t might be compelled to return to the streets should its counterparts show the 'slightest indication of lack of goodwill and honesty.'
Earlier, the coalition, which held a series of protests across major towns of Nairobi and Kisumu on Monday, had expressed its willingness to return to the table if Keynan recused himself from the opponent's team.
The opposition faulted the ruling coalition for selecting the Eldas MP claiming that he was legally associated with the opposition due to his ties with Jubilee Party whose ticket he used to run for election.
Heeding to Azimio's demands, Kenya Kwanza, which had earlier defended its choice for Keynan, announced in a Wednesday evening press statement that it had engaged the lawmaker who agreed to take a step back from the negotiations.
Saku MP Diddo Raso was appointed to take his place.
"We have consulted with Hon Keynan and the Coalition's top leadership and the Hon Adan Wehliye Keynan has graciously agreed, in the country's greater interest, to recuse himself from the bi-partisan committee.
"We have nominated the Saku MP Dido Rasso to replace the Hon. Adan Keynan in the Bipartisan Committee," a statement signed by the Leader of the Majority in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung'wah read in part.
Part of Azimio's demands in the bipartisan talk is for the ruling party to lower the cost of living and provide access to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) servers for the verification of the August 2022 Presidential Election.
