Cord leader Raila Odinga has been in the forefront pushing for reforms at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) but his intentions may have been misunderstood.
In June, Raila rejected President Uhuru Kenyatta's proposal on the IEBC stalemate where he and other opposition leaders set new conditions for talks with Jubilee.
President Kenyatta had already met Jubilee MPs and Senators and named 11 representatives including Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria to the negotiating team.
On this committee, Raila said, "No deal until there is a deal. We shall be able to communicate to the country a final decision on this matter within the next 24 hours."
Raila suggested that each coalition nominates only two members for the talks and Senator James Orengo and Tongareni MP Dr Simiyu Eseli were named negotiators in the stalemate.
"We welcomed the move as a start in the search for the way forward on the matter of IEBC," he said.
The Cord leader said they had consulted with Jubilee and other stakeholders with a mission of ironing out outstanding issues to create a credible electoral body.
"We do not intend to delve into these outstanding issues now," he said, "We will deliberate on the outstanding issues and report back within the next 24 hours," Raila added.
Discussions on the IEBC stalemate with religious leaders and diplomats including were halted after the opposition rejected the 11-member team selected by President Uhuru Kenyatta citing discomfort with the group.
From this development, the IEBC issue now rests on how both parties, Jubilee and Cord, consent on the structure of the dialogue.
And following this stalemate, the 2017 general election may be pushed to 2018 if the electoral reforms sought by the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) are not hastened.
IEBC Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba said on Saturday, July 9 that the Chiloba said that the process of reforming IEBC needs seriousness from elected leaders if the next polls are to be held in 2017 as stipulated in the constitution.
Already, parliament has formed a joint select committee with the aim of compiling some of the issues and areas to be looked into before the next polls.
The committee has 14 members, seven from both coalitions. It is expected to come up with a list of the reforms needed by early August to be deliberated on.
Jubilee wants the embattled IEBC commissioners removed from office through a tribunal but Cord wants the commissioners removed through negotiations and given an exit package to hasten the process.
Chiloba says the Cord way is workable the tribunal route will likely drag the process prolonging it.
Chiloba was quoted by Te S“To me, the parliamentary process should avoid the tribunal route because such is likely to be protracted leading to a crisis in election preparation. Some people may go to court to bar the tribunal hence delaying the process,” The Standard.
Already, Yusuf Nzibo, Albert Bwire, Kule Galma Godana and Abdullahi Sharawe are reportedly willing to vacate office should they be given a send-off package.
Chilkoba wants the committee to negotiate with the commissioners for an exit that will see them get a package to end the impasse.
With just 13 months to the next election, there is a likelihood that it will take long to resolve the issue pushing the election to 2018 if Jubilee wins with its tribunal push.
Raila has said that he understands Jubilee wants to push the elections to December 2017 or early 2018 which he says the opposition will not allow.
Despite the push and pull, Raila’s point on illegally extended terms may prove true if Jubilee takes the longer route to address the IEBC issue.