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{
    "id": 737359,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/737359/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 148,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Nyasuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 590,
        "legal_name": "Gladys Atieno Nyasuna",
        "slug": "gladys-atieno-nyasuna"
    },
    "content": "should forward more names in addition to the names that are on the list yet the law is very clear. Where did this recommendation come from? From where did they get the idea that the names to be submitted must be more than the number of slots that a party is entitled to? Regulation 6(i) has been quoted here several times. I just want to quote it again for the record. It requires a party to nominate any number of candidates, but not to exceed three times the number of slots it is entitled to. The Committee’s recommendation has created confusion by suggesting that a party must nominate three times the number of slots it is entitled to. Saying that CORD has nominated few candidates than the required number of candidates is being dishonest. It is a political strategy and this is a political process. So, every side and team puts forward its best and puts forward its best game. Where do we get the idea that an election can only happen when there are more names than the number required? We have Hon. Moses Kuria, for example. He came to Parliament without a single elector of Gatundu South Constituency having cast a vote. He was a single candidate. He is here as an elected Member of Parliament. The political parties have just concluded their nominations. We have seen many parties blocking certain individuals from clinching the nomination certificates. This is in order to ensure that you present to the electorate a formidable team of candidates that can be elected. That is exactly what the Jubilee is doing. They have requested certain candidates to step down, promising to give them other jobs once they form the next Government. That is the same strategy being applied. The CORD is within its legal rights to presents the four names for the electors to vote “Yes” or “No”. Our Legal Counsel, Hon. T.J. Kajwang’, has already spoken to the genesis of the court case that was presented here as a basis for us to act differently. I will be moving an amendment, on behalf of our coalition. If it is accepted, this Report will become acceptable and we will move forward. However, we cannot engage in some wood work, come up with a Jubilee political strategy and make it look like it is the law. It is not the law. I have stated here that if Rule 6(i) intended that a political party should nominate three times the number of slots it is entitled to, it should have been amended to say so. However, since it has not been amended, it remains the law that we should be dealing with. This is what we have. We may wish to use this process to exert our authority or to show somebody dust. I am sorry, the law accepts only the names that will be submitted by the coalition. The importance of the EALA is such that we, as a country, cannot just keep sending new people all the time, just like the Members of this House would add value to the politics of this county by coming back to Parliament. That is why we have all been struggling in the nomination so that we could come back. I am sure if I am re-elected during the general elections, I will not perform my duties the same way I did in 2013, when I first stepped into this House. I am much more experienced and, therefore, I will add more value to the politics of this country than I did at the beginning of my term in 2013. That is why, as CORD, we are presenting names of persons like Hon. Judith Nayai Ramaita Pareno and Abubakar Zain Abubakar. These are people who have been at EALA before. They will take with them the institutional memory that is required. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Section 6(2) states that in nominating its candidate, each party shall, in as much as its feasible, take into account the need for fair representation of various shades of opinion, regional balance, gender and other special interest groups. It means minorities or communities that have not necessarily been considered. We present that Hon. Pareno, who is a very senior lawyer and comes from a minority community, deserves to be considered. It is the same argument for Hon. Abubakar Zain. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}