DOCSLIB.ORG

Political Parties' Internal Rules

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Political Parties' Internal Rules Political parties’ internal rules from a gender perspective: Comparatives Experiences REPORT TUNIS, 31 OCTOBER 2015 0 This activity report is produced by International IDEA-Tunisia project “Respect for Women’s Political Rights: Fostering Political Environments for Equal Participation and Leadership of Women in Political Parties”. The project is designed by Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, funded by Human Rights Fund of the Netherlands and implemented in Tunisia by International IDEA. The project includes three selected countries: Kenya, Colombia and Tunisia. In each of these countries, inequalities exist between men and women in terms of their access to political rights and decision-making positions. All three countries demonstrate a strong prevalence of cultural norms, embedded in the legal and political context that denies women the opportunity to share in the exercise of power, with all the limitations on the development of democracy and well- being implicit in that exclusion. The project in Tunisia assist several relevant stakeholders in reviewing the legal framework from a gender perspective and identifying gaps and opportunities to further strengthen women’s political participation by looking at the legal framework and the work of the political parties, as well as the broader electoral environment. This report documents the activity organized on 31 october 2015 in Tunis, where more than 40 political leader participated on internal rules of parties from a gender perspective. The report incorporates the results, recommendations and experience gained during the two sucesseful legislative elections of Tunisia. ……………………………………………………………………………… 1 Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Why parties need internal rules: experience of Canada ................................................................. 5 Challenges around the drafting proces ............................................................................................ 7 Gender sensitive internal rules: experience of Sweden .................................................................. 9 Gender sensitive internal rules: experience of Kenya ................................................................... 11 Issues raised by the participants .................................................................................................... 14 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 15 2 Acronyms CMD Centre for Multiparty Democracy (Kenya) DM Democratic Movement (Kenya) EU European Union LPC Liberal Party of Canada NIMD Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy NWLC National Women’s Liberal Commission (Canada) NWLC The National Women’s Liberal Commission (Canada) IDEA International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance SDP Social democratic party (Sweden) SDW Social democratic women´s organization (Sweden) ODM Orange Democratic Movement Party (Kenya) TNA the National Alliance (Kenya) URP UNITED REPUBLICAN PARTY (Kenya) UDF UNITED DEMOCRATIC FORUM PARTY (Kenya) 3 Introduction Before the revolution of Tunisia in 2011, dozens of new political parties were licensed, creating a new landscape and new political and electoral challenges. Rapidly, the parties were involved in three successive elections, parliamentary elections in 2011 and 2014, in addition to presidential elections held also in 2014, without having necessarily the time to structure themselves: draft platforms, mobilize members, design strategies, choose candidates, and develop proper internal rules and regulations of the parties. It is worth noting that the electoral code provides that “candidates are listed on the basis of alternation between men and women”. However, parity of male and female candidates failed to bear fruit as political parties were reluctant to place women on top of lists and therefore their representation was limited to 30%. The parity at the top of the lists was rejected by the legislators for the electoral law passed in 2014. And political parties remain are also hesitant to adopt gender sensitive bylaws or structures. Despite the fact that several political experts think that specific political parties’ laws are not necessarily needed in democracy, the internal rules’1 of the parties are quite important and necessary to ensure proper internal organization and transparency as well as equal gender opportunities. According to IDEA report on reforming legal regulations and internal rules of parties, the principles embodied in the parties’ rules should ideally promote the values of internally democratic party organizations, so that parties engage activists in decision-making at all levels of the party, for example in conference debates about party principles and election programs, as well as giving members a role in the selection of party leaders and candidates. Practical steps towards building internally-democratic parties include mobilizing supporters and building mass membership organizations, decentralizing decision-making in the candidate nomination process, and promoting the inclusion of women and ethnic minority candidates for elected office2. In this context, IDEA project in Tunisia organized a conference on political parties’ internal rules to initiate discussions and debate on the importance of parties’ bylaws. Special focus was devoted to gender sensitive bylaws. The conference was a sequence of short presentations prepared by International experts and practitioners followed by sessions of questions and answers. Comparative perspectives and experiences were presented to provide platform of dialogue and reveal similarities and differences that can lead to a better understanding of political parties’ development. 1 Sometimes referred to as party statutes, party internal regulations or in some parties’ constitutions 2 IDEA report on reforming legal regulations and internal rules, P20, 2004 available on the following link http://www.idea.int/parties/upload/pippa%20norris%20ready%20for%20wev%20_3_.pdf 4 Why parties need internal rules? The experience of Canada, by Mr. Marc Lavigne Marc Lavigne works in politics since thirty years. He held important positions in the organization of several electoral campaigns and referendums of the Liberal Party of Canada. He is also a political adviser in the area of good governance and strategies elaboration in Canada and abroad. He held the position of Director of Parliamentary Affairs Adviser and the National Assistant of the Director of the Liberal Party. He was also among the Prime Minister of Quebec team. Since 2012, he moved from federal politics to local politics and he is currently member of the local council of the municipality of Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu. The internal rules of political parties include requirements and provisions for parties to be transparent in their decision-making and to seek input from their membership at all levels when determining policies, establishing committees or initiating any new change. It offers also the possibilities to resolve all the issues and describes the organs of the party and regulates how the amendments of the rules is introduced. They should ensure proper functioning and development of the parties and should be seen as any rules regulating any field. It determines how the party functions, what is the role of every party’s member and structure. It is worth noting that in terms of seize the constitution (bylaws) of the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) comes in 80 pages, the conservative party of Canada is 20 pages and the Green Party of Canada lead by a women is 20 pages. Nevertheless, the clarity and consistency of the contents is more important than the size. The rules should be simple, flexible and democratic. The member of the party is the central component of the rules as parties rely on members to win the elections. The preamble of the rules provides the reason of the constitution of the party and the orientation of the actions and engagements. The preamble of the Liberal party of Canada states that “This Constitution governs the affairs of the Party and is the final authority concerning any dispute within the Party. If there is a conflict between this Constitution and any Constituent Body Constitution, this Constitution prevails insofar as the federal affairs of the Party are concerned.” In terms of party’s structures, the member is again at the heart of the structures. The constitution of the party states that “membership in the Party is open without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age or mental or physical disability”. The board of directors National Board of Directors is the highest authority of the party and it is responsible to manage or supervise the management of the activities and affairs of the Party including finance. 5 Gender perspectives: The National Board of Directors of the LPC, by bylaw, may establish any number of committees, consisting of members of the National Board of Directors, to which the Board of Directors may delegate any power that the National Board of Directors may exercise. In this context, article 28, paragraph 2 of the constitution states that “in making appointments to a committee established by the National Board of Directors, the principle of equal participation of men and women and the recognition of English and French as the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Political Parties and Party Systems in Kenya
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Elischer, Sebastian Working Paper Ethnic Coalitions of Convenience and Commitment: Political Parties and Party Systems in Kenya GIGA Working Papers, No. 68 Provided in Cooperation with: GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies Suggested Citation: Elischer, Sebastian (2008) : Ethnic Coalitions of Convenience and Commitment: Political Parties and Party Systems in Kenya, GIGA Working Papers, No. 68, German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/47826 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort
    [Show full text]
  • Gender Ranking Rapid Baseline Survey on the Status of Gender Equality in Kenyan Political Parties
    GENDER RANKING RAPID BASELINE SURVEY ON THE STATUS OF GENDER EQUALITY IN KENYAN POLITICAL PARTIES (ZERO DRAFT) © APRIL 2014 1 | P a g e Table of Contents 1 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................... 4 2 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Why Gender Ranking of Political Parties? .................................................................. 7 3 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................... 7 4 BARRIERS TO WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION ........................................................ 17 4.1 The Situation of Women in Politics ............................................................................. 17 4.2 Evaluations on the Internal and External Barriers to Women’s Political Participation ............................................................................................................................ 18 5 METHODOLGY ...................................................................................................................... 19 5.1 Survey Design ............................................................................................................... 19 5.2 Limitations of the Survey ............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Democratic Party and the Transformation of American Conservatism, 1847-1860
    PRESERVING THE WHITE MAN’S REPUBLIC: THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICAN CONSERVATISM, 1847-1860 Joshua A. Lynn A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2015 Approved by: Harry L. Watson William L. Barney Laura F. Edwards Joseph T. Glatthaar Michael Lienesch © 2015 Joshua A. Lynn ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Joshua A. Lynn: Preserving the White Man’s Republic: The Democratic Party and the Transformation of American Conservatism, 1847-1860 (Under the direction of Harry L. Watson) In the late 1840s and 1850s, the American Democratic party redefined itself as “conservative.” Yet Democrats’ preexisting dedication to majoritarian democracy, liberal individualism, and white supremacy had not changed. Democrats believed that “fanatical” reformers, who opposed slavery and advanced the rights of African Americans and women, imperiled the white man’s republic they had crafted in the early 1800s. There were no more abstract notions of freedom to boundlessly unfold; there was only the existing liberty of white men to conserve. Democrats therefore recast democracy, previously a progressive means to expand rights, as a way for local majorities to police racial and gender boundaries. In the process, they reinvigorated American conservatism by placing it on a foundation of majoritarian democracy. Empowering white men to democratically govern all other Americans, Democrats contended, would preserve their prerogatives. With the policy of “popular sovereignty,” for instance, Democrats left slavery’s expansion to territorial settlers’ democratic decision-making.
    [Show full text]
  • Party Totals Independent Candidates Total Candidates
    Combined Party and Independent Candidates Summary County Woman Member of Member of National Member of County President Governor Senator Assembly Parliament Assembly Grand Total Party Totals 8 183 263 261 1,473 9,142 11,330 Independent Candidates 11 63 86 69 605 2,918 3,752 Total Candidates 19 246 349 330 2,078 12,060 15,082 Comparisons between Party and Independent Candidates Grand Total Member of County Assembly Member of Parliament County Woman Member of National Assembly Senator Governor President - 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 TOTAL NUMBER OF APPLICANTS PER POLITICAL PARTY AND ELECTIVE POSITION ELECTIVE POSITIONS POLITICAL PARTY President Governor Senator County Woman Member of National Assembly Member of Parliament Member of County Assembly Grand Total 1 JUBILEE PARTY 1 45 46 47 278 1384 1801 2 ORANGE DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT 1 27 33 33 203 992 1289 3 MAENDELEO CHAP CHAP PARTY 0 11 20 28 100 752 911 4 KENYA AFRICAN NATIONAL UNION 0 9 17 27 101 541 695 5 AMANI NATIONAL CONGRESS 0 11 13 13 95 507 639 6 WIPER DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT0 KENYA 1 13 14 14 82 508 632 7 FORUM FOR RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY-KENYA 0 4 15 13 87 512 631 8 CHAMA CHA MASHINANI 0 5 5 9 39 314 372 9 PARTY OF NATIONAL UNITY 0 5 5 10 40 284 344 10 DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF KENYA 0 4 5 3 26 226 264 11 CHAMA MWANGAZA DAIMA 0 1 3 1 9 216 230 12 UNITED DEMOCRATIC PARTY 1 5 5 4 26 187 228 13 NATIONAL RAINBOW COALITION-KENYA 0 3 4 6 29 185 227 14 FEDERAL PARTY OF KENYA 0 0 8 4 25 154 191 15 SAFINA 0 4 3 2 21 154 184 16 THE NATIONAL VISION PARTY 0 1 3 8 20 146 178 17 AGANO PARTY 0
    [Show full text]
  • Political Parties Office Headquarters and Contacts
    Political Parties Office Headquarters and Contacts CODE PARTYNAME LOCATION CONTACTS EMAIL ADDRESS 001 National Rainbow Coalition-Kenya Woodland Road, Off Lenana Road P.O BOX 34200-00100 [email protected] CELL PHONE:2726783/2726759 [email protected] 002 The National Vision Party Teleposta Towers 19h Floor, Koinange Street P.O BOX 29200-0100 NAIROBI [email protected] Nairobi CELL PHONE:020 310896 003 The Labour Party Of Kenya Kilimani Area, Shiko Road Off Elgeyo P.O BOX 46775-00100 NAIROBI [email protected] Marakwet Road CELL PHONE:0724 308 773, 0203533380 004 Grand National Union Plot No.L.R Ref No.3734/891lavington P.O BOX 54702-00200 NAIROBI Nairobi CELL PHONE: 0721 481 473 005 Chama Mwangaza Daima Thika Road Day Company House Next To P.O BOX 64929-00620 NAIROBI [email protected] Safari Park Hotel Plot 368 CELL PHONE:0722 319 284 006 United Democratic Forum Party Waiyaki Way,Off Riverside Drive Metropolitan P.O BOX 29299-00100 [email protected] Estate House No.6 Chiromo CELL PHONE:0729 351400 007 Party Of Independent Candidates Of Kenya Kenyatta Avenue,Uganda House 2 Nd Floor P.O BOX 21812-00400 [email protected] Room 20 CELL PHONE:0727 360052 / 0727360652 008 Restore And Build Kenya Cedar Clinical Associates,Makasembo Road P.O BOX 2670-30100 [email protected] Eldoret CELL PHONE:0722 807 261 009 Kenya National Congress Mbabane Road,Off James Gichuru Road P.O BOX 1498-00100 [email protected] CELL PHONE:0202604013 010 Mazingira Greens Party Of Kenya Paa Crescent
    [Show full text]
  • KENYA ASSESSMENT April 2000
    KENYA ASSESSMENT April 2000 Country Information and Policy Unit I. SCOPE OF DOCUMENT 1.1 This assessment has been produced by the Country Information & Policy Unit, Immigration & Nationality Directorate, Home Office, from information obtained from a variety of sources. 1.2 The assessment has been prepared for background purposes for those involved in the asylum determination process. The information it contains is not exhaustive, nor is it intended to catalogue all human rights violations. It concentrates on the issues most commonly raised in asylum claims made in the United Kingdom. 1.3 The assessment is sourced throughout. It is intended to be used by caseworkers as a signpost to the source material, which has been made available to them. The vast majority of the source material is readily available in the public domain. 1.4 It is intended to revise the assessment on a 6-monthly basis while the country remains within the top 35 asylum producing countries in the United Kingdom. 1.5 The assessment will be placed on the Internet, http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/cipu1.htm. An electronic copy of the assessment has been made available to the following organisations: Amnesty International UK Immigration Advisory Service Immigration Appellate Authority Immigration Law Practitioners' Association Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants JUSTICE Medical Foundation for the care of Victims of Torture Refugee Council Refugee Legal Centre UN High Commissioner for Refugees 1 CONTENTS I SCOPE OF DOCUMENT 1.01 - 1.05 II GEOGRAPHY 2.01 - 2.02 The
    [Show full text]
  • Submission of Political Party Nomination Rules
    PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SUBJECT: SUBMISSION OF POLITICAL PARTY NOMINATION RULES NAIROBI, KENYA: Wednesday, March 8th, 2017 – The Commission is in the process of reviewing the nomination rules submitted by 67 registered political parties to ensure compliance with the prescribed guidelines and respond to the democratic principles of governance as espoused by Article 91 of the Constitution. One provisionally registered political party and one Coalition also submitted their nomination rules. The Commission published a public notice requiring Political Parties to submit Nomination Rules by 2nd March, 2017. Political Parties are further reminded to submit their membership lists on or before 19th March, 2017. The following Political Parties submitted their nomination rules by 2nd March, 2017 1. Progressive Party of Kenya 2. Ford-Kenya 3. Chama Cha Uzalendo 4. Democratic Congress 5. Kenya Social Congress 6. United Democratic Movement 7. Diligence Development Alliance 8. Ukweli Party 9. New Democrats 10. Democratic Party of Kenya 11. Party of Democratic Unity 12. Roots Party of Kenya 13. Maendeleo Democratic Party 14. Mzalendo Saba Saba 15. Alternative Leadership Party of Kenya 16. Kenya National Democratic Alliance 17. People’s Party of Kenya 18. Empowerment and Liberation Party 19. Vibrant Democratic Party 20. Kenya National Congress 21. NARC-Kenya 22. Kenya Patriots Party 23. Party of Independent Candidates of Kenya 24. National Rainbow Coalition 25. Restore and Build Kenya Party 26. Citizen Convention Party 27. Farmers Party of Kenya 28. Green Congress of Kenya Party 29. Devolution Party of Kenya 30. Amani National Congress 31. Safina Party of Kenya 32. People’s Empowerment Party 33.
    [Show full text]
  • The Kenya General Election
    AAFFRRIICCAA NNOOTTEESS Number 14 January 2003 The Kenya General Election: senior ministerial positions from 1963 to 1991; new Minister December 27, 2002 of Education George Saitoti and Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka are also experienced hands; and the new David Throup administration includes several able technocrats who have held “shadow ministerial positions.” The new government will be The Kenya African National Union (KANU), which has ruled more self-confident and less suspicious of the United States Kenya since independence in December 1963, suffered a than was the Moi regime. Several members know the United disastrous defeat in the country’s general election on December States well, and most of them recognize the crucial role that it 27, 2002, winning less than one-third of the seats in the new has played in sustaining both opposition political parties and National Assembly. The National Alliance Rainbow Coalition Kenyan civil society over the last decade. (NARC), which brought together the former ethnically based opposition parties with dissidents from KANU only in The new Kibaki government will be as reliable an ally of the October, emerged with a secure overall majority, winning no United States in the war against terrorism as President Moi’s, fewer than 126 seats, while the former ruling party won only and a more active and constructive partner in NEPAD and 63. Mwai Kibaki, leader of the Democratic Party (DP) and of bilateral economic discussions. It will continue the former the NARC opposition coalition, was sworn in as Kenya’s third government’s valuable mediating role in the Sudanese peace president on December 30.
    [Show full text]
  • Jiamini Jihusishe
    JIHUSISHE FACT SHEET ON YOUNG WOMEN AND POLITICAL PARTIES 2012 Caroline Kogi: Content Developer Judy Nguru Walla: Editor Geoffrey Oigo: Design & Layout The Youth Agenda ( YAA ) Woodlands Court, Kirichwa Lane, Off Ngong Road P.O. Box 10174 - 00100, Nairobi Tel: +254 -20 - 2022026 Fax: +254 - 20 - 3559212 Email: [email protected] @ Youth Agenda, 2012 All rights reserved. Parts of this document may be reproduced for non-commercial use without permission from the authors, provide that acknowledgement is given to Youth Agenda. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 A CASE FOR YOUNG WOMEN .................................................. 1 2.0 LEADERSHIP POSITIONS AVAILABLE FOR YOUNG WOMEN ......... 2 2.1 Elective positions ....................................................................................... 3 2.2 Nominative positions ................................................................................. 4 2.3 Appointive positions .................................................................................. 5 3.0 YOUNG WOMEN AND POLITICAL PARTIES ................................ 6 3.1 Political parties .......................................................................................... 7 3.2 Why should a young woman join a political party? ................................... 8 Benefits for young women .................................................................. 9 Benefits for political parties ................................................................... 10 3.3 Role of young women in political parties .................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Macro Report Comparative Study of Electoral Systems Module 4: Macro Report September 10, 2012
    Comparative Study of Electoral Systems 1 Module 4: Macro Report Comparative Study of Electoral Systems Module 4: Macro Report September 10, 2012 Country: Kenya Date of Election: 4 March 2013 Prepared by: Matthias Krönke, Abel Oyuke and Robert Mattes Date of Preparation: 23 November 2016 NOTES TO COLLABORATORS: . The information provided in this report contributes to an important part of the CSES project. The information may be filled out by yourself, or by an expert or experts of your choice. Your efforts in providing these data are greatly appreciated! Any supplementary documents that you can provide (e.g., electoral legislation, party manifestos, electoral commission reports, media reports) are also appreciated, and may be made available on the CSES website. Answers should be as of the date of the election being studied. Where brackets [ ] appear, collaborators should answer by placing an “X” within the appropriate bracket or brackets. For example: [X] . If more space is needed to answer any question, please lengthen the document as necessary. Data Pertinent to the Election at which the Module was Administered 1a. Type of Election [] Parliamentary/Legislative [X] Parliamentary/Legislative and Presidential [ ] Presidential [ ] Other; please specify: __________ 1b. If the type of election in Question 1a included Parliamentary/Legislative, was the election for the Upper House, Lower House, or both? [ ] Upper House [ ] Lower House [X] Both [ ] Other; please specify: __________ Comparative Study of Electoral Systems 2 Module 4: Macro Report 2a. What was the party of the president prior to the most recent election, regardless of whether the election was presidential? Party of National Unity and Allies (National Rainbow Coalition) 2b.
    [Show full text]
  • Institutionalizing Political Parties in Kenya
    Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Institutionalizing Peponi Road P.O. Box 14932 - 00800 Nairobi Tel: 3748338/9 POLITICAL Centre for Governance and Development (CGD) Riara Gardens, O! Riara Road P.O. Box 4037 - 00506 PARTIES Nairobi Tel: 3861813/4 in Kenya Institutionalizing POLITICAL PARTIES in Kenya Political Parties in Kenya Political Institutionalizing PUBLISHED BY: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) P. O. Box 14932 Nairobi, Kenya Telephone: 254-020-3748338/9 E-mail: [email protected] © FRIEDRICH EBERT STIFTUNG (FES) ISBN: 9966-957-43-X Published 2010 DESIGN & LAYOUT Sunburst Communications Ltd Tel: +254-020-312328 E-mail: [email protected] ii Institutionalizing Political Parties in Kenya Political Table of Contents List of Abbreviations and Acronyms iv Foreword v 1: Introduction 1 2: Framework for Analysis and Research Methodology 3 3: Historical Context of Political Parties in Kenya 5 4: Role of Political Parties 8 4.1: Mobilization Function 8 4.2: Recruitment Function 11 4.3: Parties and Political Education 12 4.4 Political Socialization Function 14 4.5: Representation Function 14 4.6: Parties and Political Development 15 4.7: Political Parties and Socio-Economic Development 16 4.8: Role of Parties in Policy-Making 18 5: Intra-Party Democracy 21 5.1: Elements of Intra-Party Democracy 21 5.2: Intra-Party Democracy in Kenya 22 6: Legal Framework for Political Parties 24 6.1: Introduction 24 6.2: The Constitution 25 6.3: The Political Parties Act 25 6.4: Parliamentary Standing Orders 26 7: Party Financing 27 7.1: Introduction 27 7.2: Funding of
    [Show full text]
  • Kenya: Prospects for Democracy Following Multi
    7/93 KENYA: PROSPECTS FOR DEMOCRACY FOLLOWING MULTI-PARTY ELECTIONS Our contributor, Anne Muthoni Githuku, holds the Institute's and Wits University's Rotary Fellowship for 1993. She is a Kenyan-born graduate of the University of Swaziland and St. Laurence University in New York State, with an M.A. from American University, Washington D.C., in International Development. She has worked extensively in upliftment and rehabilitation programmes with an African emphasis and is also active in the field of women's rights. "Those who had placed their faith in a quick-fix solution via the multi-party road can now digest at leisure the truism that a multi-party system does not necessarily a democracy make. " New African, May 1993. INTRODUCTION Kenya only recently held its first multi-party (KANU). KANU was led by the first President of elections since independence in 1963. Having had Kenya, President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, who, a long history of intolerance of opposition politics, following periods of detention because of his Kenyans are in the process of struggling towards political activities and participation in the Mau Mau developing a democratic tradition and democratic anti-colonial movement, was exiled in England for institutions to ensure that after the elections the 15 years. country does not once again slide back into dictatorship. BEGINNING OF OPPOSITION POLITICS POLITICAL HISTORY: 1963 TO PRESENT Soon after independence, opposition parties were formed by members of the new parliament who felt Colonised by the British, Kenya attained the need for alternative views in parliament since independence on December 12, 1963, after a long they espoused differing ideals.
    [Show full text]