Sources say Martha Karua and several other Azimio leading lights felt that calling off demonstrations would render them politically irrelevant. During one of the meetings, our source adds, that a proposal to call off the demonstrations to pursue the bipartisan talks produced fireworks
By The Weekly Vision
The absence of Martha Karua in the last two press briefings by Azimio leaders has raised eyebrows. Unconfirmed reports indicate that there is a sharp division in the camp with hardliners pushing for demonstrations while those in the middle ground push for the bipartisan talks.
It has been discovered that Karua who has always been a hardliner insists that calling off the mass action will give President Ruto an undue advantage. The Weekly Vision has received credible information indicating that the division in Azimio played out last Tuesday when the hardliners insisted that Raila Odinga should lead the protest while the moderators pushed for him to keep off the demonstrations over assassination threats.
Sources say Martha Karua and several other Azimio leading lights felt that calling off demonstrations would render them politically irrelevant. During one of the meetings, our source adds, that a proposal to call off the demonstrations to pursue the bipartisan talks produced fireworks. The proposal to have Azimio push for constitutional amendments to create a powerful position of the Official Opposition Leader and shadow cabinet is being discussed as a means of checks and balances to the Kenya Kwanza regime.
Although this proposal has been supported by a majority of Raila Odinga’s inner circle, some hardliners have vehemently opposed it saying President Ruto cannot be trusted to give the opposition room to operate even if the constitutional amendment goes through. Keen political observers in the country were left wondering why a proposal to call off the demos and proceed with the bipartisan talks was announced by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka at a church service in Imara Daima. It is against such behind the scene talks that Azimio leader Raila Odinga seems to have softened his stand on recognizing William Ruto as the legally elected president of Kenya.
This comes in the wake of renewed bipartisan talks which sources say will see Raila Odinga’s demands met by President William Ruto’s administration, except for the opening of the IEBC servers. It has been whispered that there have been behind-the-scenes consultations between Raila Odinga and William Ruto’s emissaries. The president is said to have ceded enough grounds that will finally see the Azimio team declare that they will play their role as the official opposition.
Even as the president seems to have ceded much ground for the sake of peace and prosperity, Raila Odinga is also said to have toned down on the issue of opening the IEBC servers. The big deal however for the president is how to accommodate Raila Odinga in a structured way through the office of the official opposition and a shadow cabinet.
