Wiper secretary general and Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar at a past event. [Photo: Hassan Omar/ facebook.com]
Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar has dismissed claims that there are cracks in the National Super Alliance (NASA).
Omar said members with dissenting views over NASA’s flag bearer should not be misconstrued to imply that some parties are dissatisfied with the deal.
“One or two divergent opinions that are not satisfied with a decision is not evidence of cracks. It is often evidence of democracy," he told journalists in Mombasa on Sunday.
He was categorical that Wiper would part ways with NASA stating that such views were a creation of the media.
“The problem is that you ran a narrative that Wiper will bolt out....When the devil was shamed, some of you continued to run the narrative that there is disharmony,” said the Wiper secretary general.
According to the Star, Omar said National Assembly Minority leader Francis Nyenze’s remarks over NASA’s flag bearer shows that there’s democracy within the alliance.
On Thursday last week, NASA unveiled Raila Odinga as the presidential candidate with Kalonzo Musyoka as his running mate to face off President Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto in the August 8, general election, a move Nyenze has objected.
“Divergence is not division. Divergence is actually a healthy evidence of democracy,” said Omar, adding that there is no democracy in the world, where there is absolute unity.
“Show me absolute unity and I will show you an absolute dictator. Where there is absolute, you realise that there is an absolute dictator,” he said.
He said members are free to debate every issue fundamental to the alliance, without losing focus on the bigger picture.
He added that even though the NASA deal was not the most perfect, it was however the most ideal in the prevailing circumstance, Omar said.
“Wiper is committed to the presidency of NASA,” he noted.
He asked Nyenze and other members with dissenting voices to embrace the deal in spite of their concerns.
“We are part of that arrangement. We appreciate the concerns by some of our members, but we are asking them to be party to this great narrative,” he said.