AU High representative for Infrastructure and Development Raila Odinga has given a sneak-peek of how the new constitution will look like, talking about seven-year term presidents, powerful prime minister and everything in between.
In an interview conducted by Tony Gachoka and aired by KTN, the ODM party defacto leader said that the past systems have miserably failed Kenyans.
TG: Are you assuring Kenyans that the referendum push is to improve the Executive and the Legislative arm of Government?
Raila: No constitution is perfect. The American constitution was amended within months of its promulgation. We have implemented this Constitution for nine years, it is time to revisit to see what works and what does not.
TG: Would you prefer a longer term for the President because some people are saying the President should serve a single seven-year term. You are also talking about a Parliamentary system, where the Prime Minister is picked from a majority party?
Raila: That is the discussion we need to have as a country. We need to come up with a solution that is Kenyan. We can look at what is happening in other countries, but not copy. I was a strong supporter of the Bomas draft. At Bomas, we came up with the hybrid system very close to the French system; where you have a President elected by the people then a Prime Minister who is the leader of the majority party. The PM appoints the ministers in consultation with the President.
TG: There has been a major argument by reformists about not electing President with MPs at the same time. Are you in favour of staggering the elections?
Raila: Certainly, we need to revisit our electoral system. What we have been through is a torture to the electorate. Six in one is just too much to the people, particularly the semi-illiterate.
We need to change this so that – like they are doing in Nigeria – we have the senatorial, parliamentary and local government elections separate from the gubernatorial and presidential.