President William Ruto on Tuesday proposed the formation of a broad-based Parliamentary negotiating team to manage all NADCO legislation.
Ruto said the move will help fast-track reforms agreed under the 10-Point Agenda between UDA and ODM.
He spoke on Tuesday at State house Nairobi during a joint parliamentary group meeting in Nairobi where he said the team would include members from both houses of Parliament and represent the broader political cooperation between the two parties.
He said the negotiating team would help resolve legislative disagreements and ensure the smooth passage of bills arising from the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) process.
“We will be recommending in this parliamentary group that we have a broad-based negotiating team, one that is going to sit with both houses of Parliament, comprising membership from both houses,” Ruto said.
Ruto argued that the coalition had sufficient parliamentary numbers to push through the legislation but said dialogue and coordination were necessary to avoid stalemates.
“If broad-based decides, Parliament will decide because we have the numbers to drive it through both houses,” he said. The president said the team would also act as a mediation platform to coordinate lawmakers as they deliberate on reforms proposed in the NADCO report.
“I want us to raise the standard a bit so that we establish a broad-based negotiating committee or mediation committee to assist us on all the items that have been presented for legislation in Parliament by NADCO,” he added.
The proposals come as the government and opposition lawmakers continue implementing reforms agreed in the political pact between the ruling United Democratic Alliance and the Orange Democratic Movement.