A fallout looms within opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa) after irreconcilable cracks appear to have wracked the 12-member committee of negotiators mandated to come up with a formula to pick the presidential candidate.
With only five months to the August 8 General Election, deep crevices have permeated Nasa following what well-placed sources described as “uncompromising hard-ball tactics” adopted by proponents of one of the four contenders for the presidential ticket.
They have reportedly remained adamant on grounds that only their preferred choice has the political gravitas, financial muscle, national appeal and experience to stage a competition against the formidable Jubilee Party’s duo of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto.
The four Nasa presidential banner candidates are former Prime Minister Raila Odinga (ODM), former Vice Presidents Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Musalia Mudavadi (ANC) and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula (Ford Kenya).
Sources at the committee that has sat for over a month confide that majority of the 12-member team had arrived at a Kalonzo (president) and Mudavadi (deputy president), or vice versa, as the most nationally-accepted Nasa line up, but only if Raila gives the pair unflinching support as he did in 2002 for Mwai Kibaki with the famous ‘Kibaki Tosha!’ endorsement that saw him become the president.
They are reported to have arrived at the realisation after being presented with six varying expert opinions, all which conclude that a Raila presidential ticket would be a hard sell for Kenyans this time compared to a line-up composed of the other two, regardless of who comes first, arguments that courtiers of the former Prime Minister have flatly refused to accommodate, let alone acknowledge.
However, jitters are understood to have gripped the mediation committee that comprises representatives from the four parties, after Siaya Senator James Orengo, his Machakos counterpart Johnstone Muthama and Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu trashed the Kalonzo-Mudavadi line-up and vehemently rejected any other option outside a Raila candidacy paired with either of the other two.
Wetang’ula has not featured in any of the ticket options, say sources. The trio are said to have argued that Raila can single-handedly garner majority votes from Western region where Mudavadi and Wetang’ula hail from and, thus, there would be no value addition from the duo in Nasa, leaving Kalonzo as the suitable deputy.
Sources established that advocates for Kalonzo-Mudavadi line-up in the committee had concurred that whereas it was agreeable that Raila is the most popular of the Nasa four in his traditional strongholds, he is on the other hand not the most acceptable countrywide.
Outside the committee, politicians from various Nasa parties yesterday appeared to heighten the tension that all was not well. Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho who is deputy ODM party leader said in Mombasa, the party would endorse its leader Raila as the Nasa presidential candidate during its rally at the Tononoka grounds, Mombasa, on Sunday.
Joho said the party would make a major declaration that could “shake the political landscape”, adding that the rally would be an ODM affair where officials will take a stand on the Nasa contest.
In Wiper, Machakos governor aspirant Wavinya Ndeti wondered why ODM was “getting jittery” when Kalonzo is proposed at the Nasa candidate, while other parties were calm when Raila is proposed.
Separately, Cord secretariat head Norman Magaya told our sister company K24 Television that all indicators, including opinion polls, had placed Raila at the top in Nasa to be the candidate. Orengo played down the tension saying Nasa still had time to name the flag-bearer while Joho capped his statement by saying there was no split in the coalition.
In the committee, another bone of contention has been recent opinion polls deemed as “always too warm” to the former PM whose allies are suspected by the Kalonzo-Mudavadi allies to have funded the survey to portray him as the most popular.
Raila henchmen are also alleged to have been behind the ceaseless anti-Kalonzo bashing by bloggers. In his rally at Kitengela on Sunday, Kalonzo said he was aware of a plot by “Nasa bloggers” to portray him as poised to jump ship.
A meeting among Nasa leaders failed to take off on Sunday, with Raila staying away from the limelight, while Kalonzo was said to have travelled to Dubai, a scenario political analysts said pointed to tension running below the Nasa surface.
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