Sanity must prevail in party coalitions and mergers

By Koki Muli

According to Section 10 of the Political Parties Act (PPA), two or more political parties may form a coalition before or after an election and shall deposit the coalition agreement with the Registrar.

A pre-election coalition, according to this provision, shall be deposited with the Registrar at least three months before that election, making Tuesday, December 4, the deadline.

There is no specific deadline for coalition agreements entered into after an election, only that they shall be deposited with the Registrar within 21 days of the signing of the coalition agreement. It is advisable that coalition agreements are made for the long haul.

A very clear conflict and disputes resolution framework and strategy should also be included, as should dissolution and winding-up details. The latter however should be made very difficult, only possible in the wake of irreconcilable differences, to avoid abuse. Section 11 of the PPA provides for mergers. A political party may merge with another political party in accordance with the Constitution, rules and procedures of the political parties and only in writing and duly executed by the political party officials authorised to execute agreements on behalf of the political parties.

A merger will require the registration of the new political party and the merger agreement shall be deposited with the Registrar within 21 days of the signing of the agreement. The political parties, which have merged into a new political party under this section, shall stand dissolved upon registration of the new political party. Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the merging parties but not part of the merger will not loose their seats and can become independent MPs.

The Registrar of Political Parties and the IEBC need to be very firm and strict about coalitions and mergers. They also must ensure strict adherence to the law in order to bring back some discipline and integrity in the political and electoral process. Remember, ethnic or religious political parties cannot be registered under the PPA; likewise, coalitions or merger agreements based on ethnicity or other sectarian considerations should not be registered and accepted by the Registrar and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Section 13 of the Elections Act provides that political party nominations shall be conducted at least 45 days before a General Election; making the deadline 18 January 2013.

IEBC will publish its official nomination date 60 days before the General Elections. Critically, the nominated candidates, including running mates for presidential election in the second round, cannot be changed after their names were received by the IEBC, for the initial election, unless the death, resignation or incapacity of the nominated candidate or their violation of the electoral code of conduct occasions the change. Parties, choose very carefully!

The above means that, while pre-election coalition agreements must be registered and deposited with the Registrar of Political Parties by latest December 4; presidential candidates are not obliged to choose and announce their running mates before January 18 2013, a secret weapon! This is meant to enable political parties first, to agree, with whom they will partner and form a Government, and afterwards, negotiate and agree on a line-up of candidates for all the six elections from Presidential/Deputy-President to County Representatives.

It is also important for political parties to work out a detailed Government in waiting and proper framework of implementation based on a comprehensive coalition agreement and framework.

Finally, it is worrying that the IEBC is allowing the Cabinet/Government to behave as its spokesperson; this can be seen as political interference – although IEBC made some attempts to contradict the Government’s announcement cancelling Diaspora, though not holding my breath, I shall be pleasantly surprised if they indeed conduct out-of-country-voting.

The writer is an elections and constitutional law expert and lecturer, South Eastern University College South Eastern University College.