Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 572259,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/572259/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 224,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "was partly in recession and the rate of unemployment among the American people was high. It was seen that the American foreign policy was failing in many theatres and regions of the world. It is a statement that as President Obama comes to Kenya; we must uphold him for the issues that he has pursued right from the time he was elected. He is being judged on the performance of his Government since he was elected six years ago. The score card is that he has done well. Even in pariah nations like Iran so to speak--- I am not saying that it is a pariah nation, but in the West they were not very popular. Even for Cuba, President Obama has opened these regions so that we have international peace and security. This is something that he must be commended for. In Kenya, to get elected on issues is becoming very difficult. If you look at the agenda that we put forth and begin to take stock of which particular person or party would serve you best, I think after 1969 the question of making political choices became a very difficult one in the sense that all of us ran to our ethnic cocoons and depended on our political “big man” in order to succeed. The lesson for Kenya – and I plead with our friends in the Jubilee Coalition – is that as we relate to each other as politicians, let us do it with respect, so Kenya becomes a bigger nation. This is because at the moment, if you see the way we engage in politics in the country, it is as if the Jubilee Government expects the CORD to see no wrong, but praise the Government in power, even where it is going wrong. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when Mr. Obama was in the country - the last time - and he was asked whether he was here to represent the American Government or the President at that time, George Bush, he made it very clear that there are issues he agreed on with the then president and that there were differences between their political parties. However, he as a politician in the USA and a member of the Democratic Party had a role to play; to keep the Government of the day in check. The Government of Jubilee must wake up. There is a big statement that President Obama made and I do not know whether that is why he made his decision or not, but being a presidential system like America and having spoken to the Executive, I would have expected him to address a Joint Sitting of Parliament. I am beginning to feel that because of this thing called “tyranny of numbers”, Parliament is slowly losing its constitutional role as an oversight body over the Executive. We need to act together as Parliament. However, sometimes we are forced to go to courts for arbitration. The courts do not make decisions on the basis that an issue was supported by Jubilee Coalition or CORD. They make decisions on the strength of the law and the facts that are presented. Even the President, when assenting to a Bill, there is some assumption that so long as it has been supported by Members of the Jubilee Coalition, It is a proper Bill and must, therefore, be signed. President Obama has shown that even where his party has gone wrong, he can take a stand a say that he will not sign a particular Bill for one reason or another. In our constitutional structure of Government and the design of our form of Government, Parliament must wake up. There is a wakeup call that is being made. President Obama will be meeting civil society and the Executive as a separate group. I am sure that the elements in the Judiciary will be meeting him, but Parliament is not The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}