Raila Odinga calls for six-piece voting of ODM candidates

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader, Raila Odinga, has called for a six-piece voting for his party’s candidates in the 2017 General Election.

Speaking in Taveta during his first day of a tour of Coast region, Raila called on ODM supporters to unite in ensuring the party wins the next elections.

He further called on ODM members to stick to the party and resist attempts by Jubilee to lure them to the government side.

“If you are Jubilee, you should stay in Jubilee and if you are in ODM, you should stay in ODM. There is no need to defect from ODM to Jubilee just because you have been promised development,” he said.

Past calls by Raila in Kakamega to urge for a six-piece voting of ODM aspirants were met by protest as Senator Bonny Khalwale said that Kakamega was a Ford Kenya zone.

Khalwale said that while the region will vote for a CORD candidate at the presidency level, they would pick Ford Kenya candidates in governorship, senatorial, parliamentary and county assembly positions.

Raila’s utterances come as Wiper Democratic Movement called for a joint nomination process under the CORD coalition.

The calls would not only ensure nomination for a presidential candidate but also other electoral seats, with Wiper, Ford Kenya and ODM only enjoying free pass in their strong holds.

In a statement signed by Raila’s spokesman Dennis Onyango, ODM expressed their support for the proposal saying the move would avoid competition between constituent parties that saw them split votes and lose some seats.

“CORD leader, Raila Odinga, is in agreement with the proposal by co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka’s for joint nominations between the parties forming the CORD and the fielding of candidates on CORD flag in a similar fashion with that of Narc in 2002 elections.”

“In this arrangement, all parties will present candidates for nomination and the overall winner will fly the coalition’s ticket as ODM/ CORD, Wiper/ CORD or Ford Kenya/CORD.”

So far, Raila (ODM), Wetangula (Ford Kenya) and Kalonzo (Wiper) have expressed interest in running for the presidency on a CORD ticket.

Meanwhile, Wiper Party has called on all defectors to relinquish their seats and pave way for fresh elections.

Similar calls, which came following the exit of a number of MPs from CORD affiliate parties to Jubilee, were made by Ford Kenya and ODM as parties realign ahead of the next elections.