Parliament resumes on Tuesday from recess with the top agenda being the establishment of a framework to guide the bipartisan talks between President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
The priority for Members of the National Assembly who have been on recess for two weeks and Senators who have been away for the last one week will be the constitution of the bipartisan committee of 14 members drawn from Kenya Kwanza and the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Alliance.
Azimio Parliamentary Group meeting in Machakos County on Thursday last week picked Senators Ledama ole Kina (Narok), Edwin Sifuna (Nairobi), Enoch Wambua (Kitui), and MPs David Pkosing (Pokot South), Otiende Amollo (Rarieda), Millie Odhiambo (Suba North) and Amina Mnyanzi (Malindi) to spearhead the talks.
President William Ruto will lead the Kenya Kwanza Alliance Parliamentary Group meeting at State House Nairobi on Tuesday where they are expected to name seven members to sit in the ad hoc committee.
The list of the ad hoc committee members is expected to be ready before both Houses resume sittings in the afternoon.
The President during his address to the nation last week said he was ready to engage Raila over the matters he has raised through Parliament.
Safeguard interests
This has seen Azimio and Kenya Kwanza move to pick a team of negotiators to safeguard their interests during the bipartisan talks.
"I have listened to what my brother Raila Odinga has been saying in the recent past and I am urging him to call off the demonstrations and suggest a bi-partisan approach to the reconstitution of the IEBC panel through a Parliamentary process within the parameters of the law," said Ruto.
In his response to the President's gesture, Raila called off demonstrations to give dialogue a chance even as hardliners from across the political divide stuck to their guns.
Azimio wants the restructuring of IEBC by devolving structures to the counties and the country to consider whether it needs commissioners serving on a permanent basis and recommend institutional reforms to promote the culture of free and fair elections administered in a transparent, accurate and verifiable manner.
The opposition wants the review of the law to entrench party discipline where lawmakers who cross from the parties that sponsored them to Parliament seek afresh mandate from the electorate and allow parties to replace Nominated MPs who cross to other parties. Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot said he met with his National Assembly counterpart Kimani Ichungwah and their teams ready for talks.
They will hold a Parliamentary Group meeting where members will be informed of those selected to sit on the ad hoc committee.
The senator said Parliament has the constitutional mandate to make laws and ruled out a process similar to the National Accord.
"We will be having a Parliamentary Group meeting for the Kenya Kwanza Alliance on Tuesday so that we can inform our members of the issues at hand and for them to give us a go-ahead, they have a right to agree on the agenda or give counter proposals," said Cheruiyot.
Ichungwah said the President wants Parliament to take its rightful role in addressing the issues raised by the opposition and fully supports the bipartisan process.
National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi said the Azimio leadership stood by what Raila said over the planned talks.
