ODM leader Raila Odinga faces a stiff challenge from his Cord principals Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula, who also want the coalition’s presidential ticket in 2017.
The decision by all three to declare their presidential candidatures is seen as a way of consolidating their individual support bases to bargain their way to the ballot.
Last weekend, former Prime Minister Raila, campaigning for ODM in Homa Bay, said that he would be on the ballot in the 2017 elections, come what may.
“Nothing can stop me from vying for President in future elections. If the Orange Democratic Movement clears me to vie in 2017, then I will be on the ballot,” Raila said.
On Tuesday, Wiper said its leader Kalonzo must also be on the ballot and should not play second fiddle to Raila.
In the 2013 elections won by Jubilee’s Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila was the opposition presidential candidate and Kalonzo his running mate.
Kalonzo’s allies have also openly spoken of a pre-election deal in which the Wiper leader agreed to be Raila’s running mate on condition that the ODM boss would back him in the next election.
Late last year, the third Cord principal, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula, announced that he will face off with Raila and Kalonzo for the coalition’s ticket ahead of the 2017 elections.
While Wetang’ula is under pressure to either lead the Luhya community to the Presidency or consolidate the Western bloc, he has also said that he is in Cord to stay.
According to the Ford Kenya leader, any of the three Cord principals can be the flag-bearer, come 2017 – and win against Jubilee.
“Raila, Kalonzo and I want to be President. I will subordinate my candidacy as long as the mechanism used is fair, democratic, free and just,” Wetang’ula said.
Plans to have the Cord affiliates merge and register as a single party have been opposed, especially by supporters of Raila’s ODM.
On the other side, the Jubilee Coalition is turning itself into one party – the Jubilee Alliance Party – in readiness for the elections.
There has been no talk of changes in the Jubilee ticket of Uhuru and Ruto that won the Presidency in the 2013 elections.
According to Wiper chairman David Musila, the party will have a presidential candidate in the 2017 elections, with Kalonzo being its best bet to unseat Uhuru.
“We will have a presidential candidate in 2017 and call on all the rank and file members countrywide to take national identity cards and register as voters in large numbers in readiness,” Musila said.
Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar said Cord need to start in-house talks on the 2017 elections to avoid being caught off-guard.
Omar, who is from Wiper, said that the issue of the 2017 presidential candidate is not as straightforward in Cord as it is in Jubilee.
He noted that Jubilee already placed two of its principals in Cabinet, meaning that they are left with President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto to make up the 2017 ticket.
“What Cord needs to be doing is start a discussion on how to come up with a single candidate in a free and fair manner. Unlike Jubilee, for Cord, it is a much harder balance,” Omar said.
Source-the-star.co.ke
