The latest: Rival factions in Kenya's political crisis agreed to a deal on some issues Thursday, a spokesman for mediator Kofi Annan said in Nairobi, adding that the former U.N. secretary-general planned a news conference today.
Two viewpoints: Government negotiator Mutula Kilonzo said part of the deal was to revise Kenya's constitution within a year, a move that could allow for power-sharing, but he provided few details.
An opposition member with close ties to the negotiations confirmed that there was a deal on writing a new constitution, but he said it was "trivial" because the government had not formally agreed to any changes in the government. "The talks deadlocked over the discussion of government structure," said the politician, who refused to be quoted by name because the two sides agreed to observe a media blackout during negotiations.
The current system: Kenya's constitution was drawn up in the lead-up to independence from Britain in 1963 and has been revised repeatedly, giving the president sweeping powers that have been blamed for decades of abuses by successive governments.
A new constitution could allow for power-sharing or a prime minister's post, the solution that President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga have been pressed to adopt as a way to resolve their dispute over who won the Dec. 27 presidential election. The electoral commission declared Kibaki, the incumbent, the winner.
Past disagreement: Odinga, who was a Cabinet minister in Kibaki's administration for two years before being booted out in December 2005, fell out with the president over a previous attempt at constitutional reform. Odinga had led a drive opposing a draft charter that he said ignored changes designed to cut presidential power.
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