National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale during a past media briefing. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale has dismissed claims that NASA’s election boycott will affect the credibility and legitimacy of the repeat presidential election.The Garissa Township MP said President Uhuru Kenyatta will garner more than 80 percent of the votes cast in the fresh election following the withdrawal of National Super Alliance (NASA) candidate Raila Odinga. Duale, a vocal critic of the opposition, also said that NASA’s move to boycott the rerun won’t affect the outcome and legitimacy of the election.“NASA coalition seems to believe that their boycott of the election will erode its credibility and the legitimacy of Uhuru Kenyatta as president-elect. This cannot be the case in a country governed by the rule of law that clearly defines the threshold that constitutes a win and thus confers legal mandate upon a winning candidate,” said Duale in an opinion piece published by the Standard."In democratic parlance, we consider NASA’s action as an abstention which is part of a long-established democratic tradition that does not, however, diminish the credibility of such an election or erode the legitimacy of the victor," he added.Verification of poll results from Thursday’s presidential election is currently underway at the Bomas of Kenya, the National Tallying Centre, following the arrival of original Forms 34B from Constituency Tallying Centres.IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati on Friday called off voting in four counties scheduled to vote on Saturday due to security concerns.Chebukati said voting in the four counties of Migori, Siaya, Kisumu and Homa Bay will take place on a date yet to be announced.“The commission has deliberated on various incidents happening in some parts of the country, and has postponed the election scheduled to take place tomorrow (Saturday) to a further date to be announced,” said Chebukati.