Opposition chief Raila Odinga has said presidential system has turned elections into a do or die affair leading to bloody confrontations every five years.
He added that he will continue to push for the reintroduction of a parliamentary system.
The ODM party leader said presidential system has created a strongman syndrome in most African countries including Kenya.
He said the system is the best for it will introduce checks and balances in government.
“It has been nine years since we had this Constitution. It’s now time for us to change where we have a problem and if we don’t do it now we will have problems in the future,” Raila said.
It is his view that the electoral process in a parliamentary system will not generate the same bitterness and tension when the fight is for the position of the President.
The Opposition chief spoke on Thursday morning during an interview on Kameme FM.
The Prime Minister is the leader of government under the parliamentary system.
The PM also becomes a Member of Parliament by virtue of having the support of the largest number of MPs after elections.
Under this system, ministers also have to be MPs.
Raila said the best thing about the parliamentary system is that once the Prime Minister ceases to enjoy majority support in parliament, he or she can be removed by a vote of the MPs.
The President, under this system, becomes head of government and is a non-party political and a nationally unifying force.
“A parliamentary system is better than the presidential system because the government is in parliament and it can answer questions while in parliament. It is also easy to remove a leader for whatever reason in a parliamentary system than it is to impeach a president in a presidential system,” Raila said.
He said most countries that have embraced the presidential system of governance are mainly in Africa and North America.
These countries, he said, were either running away from a military dictatorship or one party system.
“That is why we are saying we need a parliamentary system where we have a president, prime minister and his assistants to give Kenyans better leadership,” Raila said.
“It’s not just a quest to end tribalism,” he added.