Kenya opposition suspends "People's Assembly" after Uhuru-Raila meeting
Kenyan
opposition politicians said on Monday they had suspended their rival
assembly, days after their leader said he would reconcile with President
Uhuru Kenyatta and end months of post-election turmoil.
Kenyatta and
opposition leader Raila Odinga met on Friday and promised to re-unite
the country after 100 people were killed in clashes, mainly between
opposition supporters and security forces.
The opposition National Super Alliance (NASA)
coalition said it welcomed the new spirit of cooperation – though it
warned that the suspension could be lifted if the government did not
address divisive issues including land.
“We have accepted. We acknowledge that it is better to reason together than separately,” the NASA Peoples
Assembly Organising Committee said, in the first sign that rank-and
file campaigners backed the leaders’ surprise reconciliation.
The People’s
Assembly was announced in the wake of presidential election in August,
and a repeat vote in October, both won by Kenyatta and both dismissed by
the opposition as fraudulent.
Organisers at
the time said the People’s Assembly was not meant to be a parallel
government, but other statements said citizens would be able to use it
to“exercise their sovereignty” until what they called“proper elections”
were held.
Several Kenyan
counties set up their own local People’s Assemblies, meant to be part of
a central, national body, which has yet to meet.
Before Friday,
Kenyatta and Odinga had defied calls from civil society, religious
leaders and Western diplomats to hold talks to overcome deep divisions
after the elections.
Violence during
the two rounds of voting last year revived memories of the clashes that
followed a contested 2007 vote, though the toll did not come close to
the estimate 1,200 killed that time around.
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