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Kenya protests called off
27/02/2008 18:13 - (SA)
Nairobi - Kenya's opposition on Wednesday called off street protests to try and force a power-sharing deal, while President Mwai Kibaki said he would create the prime minister's post that his rivals have been seeking.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga and Kibaki have come under pressure from at home and abroad to compromise over Kibaki's disputed re-election in a December 27 vote, which sparked ethnic violence that killed 1 000 people and displaced 300 000.
Fears of further violence grew when Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) last week said they would take to the streets again, exerting the last real leverage they have over political talks between government and opposition negotiators.
"We ... are committed to the talks. We have postponed until further notice any actions planned for tomorrow," Odinga said after meeting with mediator Kofi Annan who had asked him to call off the demonstrations.
Looting, rioting
Previous protests after Odinga accused Kibaki of rigging the election, which the president denies, degenerated into looting and rioting, and provoked an often fatal police response.
Exasperated that discussions had reached deadlock, the former United Nations chief on Tuesday suspended them and told Odinga and Kibaki that they would have to make the decisions themselves. He met both on Wednesday.
After meeting Annan, Kibaki in a statement said "pending issues were not insurmountable".
And although the government negotiating team has put the idea forward, Kibaki himself said for the first time that "the office of prime minister, and two deputy prime ministers would be created under the current constitution".
The focus of the talks had shifted toward the nature of a power-sharing deal to give Odinga a prime minister's position, and other ODM members cabinet jobs. But the sides have differed on how to enact those changes and to what extent.
Piecemeal amendments
Kibaki "cautioned on the dangers of piecemeal amendments to the constitution" and said Kenyans would undertake a comprehensive review of the document in the next year.
The government says Kenya's laws and current constitution must guide any deal now. The opposition is demanding changes now, without a nationwide vote on them.
Annan said he believed the two sides could strike a deal.
"Issues that divide the parties are bridgeable ... with political will," Annan said after his meetings. "The solution must be found in the mediation room."
- Reuters
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