| Daily Nation Series on Constitutional Change |
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Next year Kenya will make a renewed attempt to put in place a new constitution after a number of false starts over the years.
The country was shaken to its core after the violence that erupted following the December 2007 elections - and in the power-sharing agreement that followed, negotiated by Kofi Annan, the position of Prime Minister was imbedded in the current constitution. However, there was no real definition of powers between President and Prime Minister - an uncertainty which needs to be clarified well in advance of 2012, the year of the next elections. To many in Kenya, the system of first past the post, bequeathed by the British, is a dangerous one in an ethnically divided society - particularly when the result is close. Are there lessons to be drawn from other political systems? The Nation Media Group, East Africa's largest publishing house, asked AWEPA for its views - and as a result five parliamentarians, Pär Granstedt (Sweden), Brendan Howlin (Ireland), Patrick Meinhardt (Germany), Jeppe Kofod (Denmark) and Inge Jäger (Austria), contributed articles on their own constitutions and parliamentary systems. Please click here to read "Learning Political Lessions from Germany" by Patrick Meinhardt. Please click here to read "Denmark, Where Media Audits the Entire System" by Jeppe Kofod. Please click here to read "Ireland's political system dwells on what people have in common" by Brendan Howlin. Please click here to read "A rich nation's formula for political and economic stability" by Inge Jäger. Please click here to read "Sweden's evolution from a warrior state to a parliamentary system" by Pär Granstedt Please click here for the Daily Nation website. |