Kenya: Opposition threatens to resume protests from Thursday

(SomaliNet) Should there be no deal in the on-going talks between Kenya’s feuding parties; the Kenyan opposition has threatened to resume protests from Thursday.

On Monday, the talks to end Kenya\'s political crisis reached a standstill and negotiators said Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and rival Raila Odinga must now make the hard decisions on sharing power themselves.

A source said negotiating teams broke off discussions within hours after failing to finalise a deal on ending post-election turmoil that has killed at least 1 000 people and damaged Kenya\'s image as a stable East African country with a promising economy.

The Kenyan government has agreed in principle to create a prime minister\'s seat demanded by the opposition, but the parties are split on the premier\'s powers, sharing of ministries and the possibility of a new election if the coalition collapses.

Both negotiating teams said they were unable to agree and had to push the decisions up to their bosses through mediator Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general.

\"We have isolated a number of items that require our chairman\'s consultations with our principals,\" government negotiator Mutula Kilonzo told reporters.

Opposition negotiator William Ruto said it was time Kibaki and Odinga \"rolled in their influence\".

\"On many of the issues that are outstanding, we are unable to agree, so they have been referred to the principals in the hope that they enjoy greater leverage and can be able to thrash out those issues,\" Ruto told reporters.

After talks ended, the opposition formally applied for permission to hold nationwide demonstrations beginning on Thursday. The police did not immediately comment.

Annan met Odinga in private at a Nairobi hotel before holding talks with Kibaki at State House.

In a brief statement later, Annan said he believed his mediation team had done its work. \"I am now asking the party leaders to do theirs,\" he said.

A source close to the talks said that if \"foot dragging\" continued much longer, the former UN chief would leave Kenya.

The crisis over Kibaki\'s disputed re-election has laid bare rifts over land, wealth and tribes that were born under British colonial rule and since exacerbated by politicians.

In the hope of addressing the long-held grievances and improving the country\'s institutions, revising Kenya\'s 45-year-old constitution has come to the fore.

Both sides have agreed on the need for changes to the document, which gives immense powers to the president and which analysts say contributes to a divisive winner-take-all mentality at election time.

Odinga accuses Kibaki of rigging the December 27 poll and wants a powerful premier\'s post and a 50-50 split in the cabinet.

Kibaki says he won fairly and accuses the opposition of instigating riots and ethnic violence instead of following Kenya\'s legal avenues to challenge an election. He wants any changes to be made under Kenya\'s current constitution.

Most of Kenya\'s 36 million people want a quick end to the two-month-old crisis, which many see as a battle between wealthy political elites being fought at their expense.

Top UN aid official John Holmes told the UN Security Council on Monday that there was a risk of further clashes in Kenya if the political crisis was not resolved quickly.

\"Heightened ethnic awareness and fears have quickly spread through much of Kenyan society, fuelling polarisation,\" he said.-Reuters