The recent hard-line stands by Raila Odinga's allies in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party will surely contribute to his downfall in 2017.
Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) is currently facing a big problem of choosing the flagbearer for 2017 polls. Ford Peoples' Moses Wetangula and Wiper's Kalonzo Musyoka have shown great interest in vying for presidency in 2017 through Cord's ticket.
The situation is further worsened by introducing Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi into the picture. With all these people poised to seek Cord's ticket for 2017, then it will not be a rosy nomination for Cord in the coming days.
ODM boasts of strong leaders who have been vocal in demanding that Raila Odinga be given direct nomination for the next elections. However, ODM leaders should understand that when they start giving demands, they will surely lose the game.
Jubilee alliance, a party that has formed strong alliances threatening to override Cord come 2017, is cool on how it is handling its issues. As opposed to Cord's tactics, Jubilee affiliated parties are not giving demands from all over and this only means they are well organised to compete against Cord.
With such organisation, the coalition will surely claim victory come 2017. When leaders like Siaya Governor Cornell Rasanga, Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, Homabay Town MP Peter Kaluma among other ODM leaders start giving demands that Raila is the only suitable candidate to lead Cord, then they are insinuating that the other leaders are ineffective.
Cord (especially ODM party) should put their pride aside and learn from what Jubilee alliance is doing. They should be striving to form a strong alliance that will grant them success in 2017 polls.
The frequent demands being witnessed will only mean that other co-leaders in Cord, both Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula, will lead their people out of the coalition weakening it in the long run.
Newcomers like ANC's Musalia Mudavadi will also shy away from the coalition because of the 'super-ego' of some of the leaders in the coalition. Raila himself should also give his political camp a good advice on how they should conduct themselves.
If these meaningless demands persist, Cord will surely suffer another bitter defeat in 2017 and come up with various excuses to their failure.