Tuesday, May 23, 2023 –Bipartisan talks have today been suspended for seven days following disagreement between the participants.
Azimio la Umoja representative Senator Edwin Sifuna has, today evening of Tuesday May 23, announced the suspension of talks citing lack of goodwill as well as commitment from the side of Government.
Senator Sifuna listed a number of contentious issues which he claimed had stalled the exercise as William Ruto’s side was not showing signs of cooperation.
The lawyer who is part of those on the talking table listed four key items which the sides are yet to agree on.
“We have had to suspend the Bipartisan dialogue after we could not persuade our friends from KK to concede to some common-sense interim measures,” he stated.
Lowering of the cost of unga, preservation of the election servers, and suspension of IEBC reconstitution are part of the items that the two rivals could not agree on.
Raila’s Azimio side also want government to stop interfering with Jubilee Party ownership.
“These are necessary in our view in order to safeguard the outcome of the talks. We hope sense shall prevail,” Senator Sifuna added.
These remarks were corroborated by bipartisan co-chair Otiende Amollo who noted that the talks could take longer due to deliberate interference from Ruto’s side.
By last week, the two factions announced having agreed on terms of engagement including having an extra-parliamentary discussion on matters at hand.
Amollo, who is co-chairing the discussions further revealed that they had already formed a sub-committee to prioritise the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission IEBC selection panel.
