{"id":60988,"date":"2017-10-12T21:29:36","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T02:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ethiopanorama.com\/?p=60988"},"modified":"2017-10-12T21:35:11","modified_gmt":"2017-10-13T02:35:11","slug":"kenyan-election-officials-open-new-vote-to-all-original-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/?p=60988","title":{"rendered":"Kenyan Election Officials Open New Vote to All Original Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"byline\">By <a title=\"More Articles by KIMIKO de FREYTAS-TAMURA\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/kimiko-de-freytas-tamura\"><span class=\"byline-author\" data-byline-name=\"KIMIKO de FREYTAS-TAMURA\" data-twitter-handle=\"kimidefreytas\">KIMIKO de FREYTAS-TAMURA<\/span><\/a><\/span><time class=\"dateline\" datetime=\"2017-10-12T00:20:21-04:00\">OCT. 11, 2017<\/time><\/p>\n<div id=\"page\" class=\"page\">\n<article id=\"story\" class=\"story theme-main \">\n<header id=\"story-header\" class=\"story-header\">\n<div id=\"story-meta\" class=\"story-meta \">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"story-meta-footer\" class=\"story-meta-footer\">\n<div class=\"story-meta-footer-sharetools\">\n<div id=\"sharetools-story-meta-footer\" class=\"sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story-meta-footer \" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"tools\" data-title=\"Kenyan Election Officials Open New Vote to All Original Candidates\" data-share-tools-initialized=\"1\" data-author=\"By KIMIKO de FREYTAS-TAMURA\" data-media=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/10\/12\/world\/11KEnya-sub\/11KEnya-sub-jumbo.jpg\" data-publish-date=\"October 11, 2017\" data-shares=\"facebook,twitter,email,show-all,save\" data-description=\"The opposition leader, Raila Odinga, has said he would not take part in the new election, scheduled for Oct. 26, because he did not believe it would be fair.\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/10\/11\/world\/africa\/kenya-election-kenyatta-odinga.html\">\n<ul class=\"sharetools-menu\">\n<li class=\"sharetool save-sharetool\"><a data-share=\"save\" data-modal-title=\"Log in to save\"><i class=\"icon sprite-icon\"><\/i><span class=\"sharetool-text \">Save<\/span><\/a><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-viewer-candidate\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/10\/12\/world\/11KEnya-sub\/11KEnya-sub-master768.jpg?resize=350%2C233&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" data-mediaviewer-src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/10\/12\/world\/11KEnya-sub\/11KEnya-sub-superJumbo.jpg\" data-mediaviewer-caption=\"A supporter of the opposition leader Raila Odinga during a protest on Wednesday in Kisumu, Kenya. Mr. Odinga says he will not run in a new election because he does not believe that it will be free and fair.\" data-mediaviewer-credit=\"Yasuyoshi Chiba\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images\" \/><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"story-body-supplemental\">\n<div class=\"story-body story-body-1\">\n<figure id=\"media-100000005491698\" class=\"media photo lede layout-large-horizontal\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"media\" data-media-action=\"modal\">\n<div class=\"image\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption-text\">A supporter of the opposition leader Raila Odinga during a protest on Wednesday in Kisumu, Kenya. Mr. Odinga says he will not run in a new election because he does not believe that it will be free and fair.<\/span> <span class=\"credit\"><span class=\"visually-hidden\">Credit<\/span> Yasuyoshi Chiba\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"273\" data-total-count=\"273\">NAIROBI, Kenya \u2014 Kenya\u2019s electoral commission said Wednesday that it would go ahead with a repeat of the recent presidential election, even though one of the main candidates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/10\/10\/world\/africa\/raila-odinga-kenya-election.html\">has said he is withdrawing from the race<\/a> because he does not believe it would be free and fair.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"358\" data-total-count=\"631\">The commission said it was opening up the new vote, scheduled for Oct. 26, to other candidates who had run in the initial election in August. But with the opposition leader Raila Odinga declaring his withdrawal, President Uhuru Kenyatta is likely to win easily in a contest against six other candidates who failed to win much support in the earlier election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"126\" data-total-count=\"757\">Mr. Odinga has contended that the Supreme Court, not the electoral commission, should be in charge of overseeing the election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"287\" data-total-count=\"1044\">In a statement, the commission said that \u201ccandidates for the fresh presidential election scheduled for 26th of October shall include all eight candidates who participated in the 8th August presidential election.\u201d It added that Mr. Odinga had not formally withdrawn from the election.<\/p>\n<p id=\"story-continues-1\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"347\" data-total-count=\"1391\">The new vote was ordered by the Supreme Court last month, after it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/09\/01\/world\/africa\/kenya-election-kenyatta-odinga.html\">nullified<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/09\/01\/world\/africa\/kenya-election-kenyatta-odinga.html\"> the August election<\/a> in response to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/16\/world\/africa\/kenya-opposition-leader-says-hell-expose-fraud-for-all-to-see.html\">Mr. Odinga\u2019s complaints of voting irregularities<\/a>. The electoral commission had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/11\/world\/africa\/kenya-uhuru-kenyatta-president-election.html\">declared Mr. Kenyatta the winner<\/a> of the Aug. 8 vote, with 54 percent of the ballots, to 44 percent for Mr. Odinga \u2014 a margin of about 1.4 million votes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- close story-body --><\/p>\n<div id=\"supplemental-1\" class=\"supplemental first\" data-post-height=\"1152\" data-flex-ad-adjacency=\"true\" data-last-item-height=\"407\" data-minimum=\"400\" data-remaining=\"207\" data-max-items=\"2\" data-pre-height=\"1152\" data-between-flex-ads=\"true\">\n<div class=\"supplemental-items\" data-no-ads=\"true\" data-supplemental-order=\"0\">\n<aside class=\"marginalia related-combined-coverage-marginalia marginalia-item nocontent robots-nocontent\" role=\"complementary\" data-marginalia-type=\"sprinkled\">\n<div class=\"nocontent robots-nocontent\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"module-heading\">Related Coverage<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<article class=\"story theme-summary \">\n<div class=\"thumb\">\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/10\/11\/world\/11kenya1\/11kenya1-thumbStandard.jpg?w=800&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"media-action-overlay\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"story-body\">\n<h2 class=\"headline\"><span class=\"title\">Raila Odinga, Kenya Opposition Leader, Won\u2019t Run in New Election<\/span> <time class=\"dateline\">OCT. 10, 2017<\/time><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<article class=\"story theme-summary \">\n<div class=\"thumb\">\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/09\/01\/us\/01kenya-alpha\/01kenya-alpha-thumbStandard.jpg?w=800&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"media-action-overlay\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"story-body\">\n<h2 class=\"headline\"><span class=\"title\">Kenya Supreme Court Nullifies Presidential Election<\/span> <time class=\"dateline\">SEPT. 1, 2017<\/time><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<article class=\"story theme-summary \">\n<div class=\"thumb\">\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2017\/08\/17\/world\/17kenya\/17kenya-thumbStandard.jpg?w=800&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"media-action-overlay\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"story-body\">\n<h2 class=\"headline\"><span class=\"title\">Kenya Opposition Leader Says He\u2019ll Expose Election Fraud<\/span> <time class=\"dateline\">AUG. 16, 2017<\/time><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"story-body-supplemental\">\n<div class=\"story-body story-body-2\">\n<p id=\"story-continues-3\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"224\" data-total-count=\"1615\">But in its ruling, the court found that senior poll officials had not followed electoral procedures properly to ensure a credible vote. It was the first time in Africa that a court had nullified the election of an incumbent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"329\" data-total-count=\"1944\">For weeks since the court ruling, Mr. Odinga has demanded that senior poll officials be replaced and prosecuted. He has also called for the replacement of the companies in charge of printing ballot papers and providing the devices needed for the electronic transmission of results, areas that the court found to have been flawed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"287\" data-total-count=\"2231\">Western diplomats have criticized Mr. Odinga for making too many demands, which could have the effect of undermining confidence in the electoral commission\u2019s ability to hold the new vote. Mr. Odinga has called for protests to take place until the commission makes the changes he seeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"189\" data-total-count=\"2420\">On Wednesday, hundreds of his supporters demonstrated in Nairobi, the capital, and in some opposition strongholds around the country, demanding the resignation of senior election officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"156\" data-total-count=\"2576\">\u201cCan you go into an election with the same cooks who poisoned your food?\u201d said Janet Ongera, an opposition lawmaker from Kisii, a city in western Kenya.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"107\" data-total-count=\"2683\">\u201cThis will add even more sulfuric acid,\u201d Ms. Ongera added. \u201cWhat we want is a level playing field.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"184\" data-total-count=\"2867\">Since the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in September, Mr. Odinga and Mr. Kenyatta, along with the electoral commission, have failed to reach an agreement on how to conduct the new election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"153\" data-total-count=\"3020\">Analysts say that with shrinking campaign funds and worries of eroding support, Mr. Odinga was most likely playing for time by withdrawing from the race.<\/p>\n<p id=\"story-continues-4\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"312\" data-total-count=\"3332\">Mr. Odinga appeared to be pushing for a later date for the new election, based on his interpretation of a 2013 ruling that calls for a new vote to take place within 90 days if a candidate suddenly dies. An extended campaign would give the authorities more time to make the electoral changes sought by Mr. Odinga.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"336\" data-total-count=\"3668\">Earlier in the day, before the election commission\u2019s decision, Kenya\u2019s Parliament passed a set of amendments to the electoral law that seemed intended to ensure a victory by Mr. Kenyatta. One measure said that in an election or runoff with only two candidates, if one withdraws, the other would be automatically declared the winner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"175\" data-total-count=\"3843\">Another amendment would bar the Supreme Court from nullifying a presidential election unless violations of the Constitution or electoral law significantly altered the outcome.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"224\" data-total-count=\"4067\" data-node-uid=\"1\">That measure was widely criticized as an attempt by the government to clip the judiciary\u2019s wings. Although the parliamentary vote was boycotted by opposition lawmakers, it passed with the support of Mr. Kenyatta\u2019s party.<\/p>\n<p data-para-count=\"224\" data-total-count=\"4067\" data-node-uid=\"1\">Source \u00a0 \u00a0 &#8211; \u00a0 The New York Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By KIMIKO de FREYTAS-TAMURAOCT. 11, 2017 &nbsp; Save A supporter of the opposition leader Raila Odinga during a protest on Wednesday in Kisumu, Kenya. Mr. Odinga says he will not run in a new election because he does not believe that it will be free and fair. Credit Yasuyoshi Chiba\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images NAIROBI, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":60992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ethiopanorama.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/11KEnya-sub-master768.jpg?fit=768%2C512&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60988"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60994,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60988\/revisions\/60994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethiopanorama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}