By Xinhua
Nairobi : Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki Wednesday called on negotiators who are trying to resolve the political unrest in the country to move with speed and resolve all outstanding issues.
Kibaki, who met former UN chief Kofi Annan over the suspended talks, expressed his commitment to the talks, saying the outstanding issues should be tackled under the current constitution.
“President Kibaki noted that the pending issues were not insurmountable and should be adequately addressed under the current constitution, the Coalition Agreement and the upcoming comprehensive constitution review,” a presidential statement said.
“Once again, the president said that he was ready and willing to share responsibilities of government with the (opposition) Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and pushed for a speedy resolution of the issues under discussion,” the statement said.
The meeting between Kibaki and Annan, who has been in the East African country for over a month to mediate the peace talks, came as talks were suspended Tuesday for lack of progress.
Although the two rival parties – Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) and the ODM led by Raila Odinga – have agreed on the creation of the post of prime minister, Kibaki’s team insists that the premier will be accountable to the president and his duties will be to coordinate the performance of government ministries and to perform any other duties assigned by the president.
ODM disagrees with this argument and allege that the PNU does not want to share power with the opposition.
More than 1,000 people have been killed while 350,000 others displaced in the fighting that ensued a disputed presidential election held two months ago.
The opposition accuses Kibaki of rigging the election and stealing the victory from Odinga.