Hon. Passaris at a past ODM function [Photo/Kenyan-post.com]
As the rumors go…prior to the August 8 Election, Hon. Esther Passarris had hinted at running for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat.
Her party of choice was going to be Jubilee but upon observing from afar the ‘strong’ candidates in the nomination line up, she opted to join ODM and slug it out with Rachael Shebesh for the Women Representative Seat.
Defeating Rachael Shebesh proved to be an easy feat given that the incumbent’s political momentum had plummeted as we approached August 8.
Also to note is that Passaris had gathered close to 300,000 votes in 2013 under the umbrella of an obscure party: KNC.
With ODM, she was bound to win this year.
Therefore, observing that the current governor of Nairobi, Hon. Sonko and that Nairobi is split almost 50:50 when it comes to the number of MPs on either side of Jubilee or Nasa, it is obvious that Jubilee will try to ‘attract’ Passaris to their side.
I’m not talking about an open defection.
No! That will entail in Hon. Passaris vacating her seat and her seat declared vacant.
What I am saying is that she is probably being wooed by Jubilee to tone down on her stance with respect to the current Nasa boycott and planned protests.
Such attempts by Jubilee might entail a ‘brown envelop’ or a promise of better things in 2022. I am not saying that this is the case, but it is always speculated that this is how things are done in the backroom deals with politicians.
Evidence of Jubilee’s attempts to catch her attention can be seen in a recent TV interview where Hon. Passaris chastised Jubilee MPs for asking her to come ‘home’.
Home in this instance implied that due to her Kikuyu roots evident in her middle name, Esther Passaris needs to be lenient towards Jubilee and soften her stance on things.
Also to mention are the discussions on social media by ordinary Kenyans stating that Passaris is only on loan to ODM and that she is truly a Jubilee member at heart.