President Ruto yield to opposition pressure, asks Raila to call off demonstrations, embrace dialogue
President William has softened his hardline stance and reneged his earlier position ruling out any dialogue with the opposition and urged his political rival Raila Odinga to call off anti-government street protests and instead dialogue through a bipartisan approach.
Ruto requested the Azimio One Kenya Coalition leadership to suspend Monday and Thursday protests that have in the past two weeks rendered the country highly polarised amid cases of anarchy targeting private establishments and violent attacks.
In his address to the nation today evening from State House Nairobi, the Head of State recommended a bi-partisan approach to address the issues raised by the opposition and especially the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) selection panel.
“Considering the matters raised by our friends in the opposition, I suggest a bipartisan engagement in parliament on the reconstitution of the IEBC Panel within the parameters of the law and constitution.” President Ruto said.
“I urge my brother Raila Odinga and the opposition to call off the demonstrations and to give this bipartisan approach a chance for us to take the country forward,” he added
However, the President ruled out any possibility of a handshake between him and Raila maintaining that will only engage leaders in the opposition on issues affecting Kenyans and on the confines of the constitution.
“As a believer in the rule of law and running an accountable government, our position is that we should never be in the position that this country was put by the handshake where there is no distinction between government and the opposition,” he stated.
