Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-01-16-Speech-3-234"
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"en.20080116.12.3-234"2
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"I am very pleased that today the European Parliament is going to discuss the situation in Kenya and also debate the proposed resolution on the current situation there.
On a more positive note, the Kenyan Parliament had its first session yesterday. The opposition candidate was elected President of the Parliament. This was encouraging in the sense that certain democratic rules have still been observed in the country and that the opposition still has a voice.
As for the European Union, it is perfectly clear that normal business with Kenya will not be possible until a political compromise is found. The compromise must lead to a permanent solution which will uphold the will of the Kenyan people, gain the trust of the Kenyan people and return Kenya to stability.
In the name of the European Union, I can say that everything that has followed the Kenyan elections has represented a great disappointment and that the situation is still worrying. However, this cannot be compared with the disappointment felt by the people of Kenya themselves, people who took part in the elections en masse in the hope of a better future.
The mere fact that the European Parliament sent the Election Observation Mission under the leadership of Mr Lambsdorff, and its own delegation led by Mr Mulder, gave a very important sign that the European Parliament is interested in the situation in Kenya.
The elections in Kenya, as we know, took place on 27 December. The high turnout of the Kenyan voters is proof of the commitment of the Kenyan people to the democratic process and of the trust in that process.
The European Union Election Observation Mission was present at the actual location and was led by Mr Lambsdorff. It warned of numerous irregularities in the counting and recording of the votes during these elections. These irregularities are causing serious doubts about the actual outcome of these elections. As we know, after the results were published, violence broke out in the capitol Nairobi and other parts of Kenya.
Supporters of the opposition leader, Mr Odinge, clashed several times with the security forces and also attacked the followers of President Kibaki. Shots were fired by the security forces into the masses. According to Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the security forces responded “with excessive violence”.
At least 600 people lost their lives and almost a quarter of a million people were displaced – all this in Kenya, a country to which refugees from the neighbouring countries, Somalia and southern Sudan, usually flee.
It has affected the economy not only of Kenya itself, but also of the neighbouring countries, especially those without their own access to the sea. That is a tragedy. At the same time it is a great blow to the process of democratisation and a blow to the whole continent of Africa, where Kenya was regarded as exemplary.
The European Union condemned the violence in Kenya. We appealed to Kenyan leaders to try and answer the doubts about the regularity of the elections, but first of all to establish a dialogue and find a political solution. Naturally, we responded to the humanitarian needs of the Kenyan population. The European Union saluted the mediation by President Kufuor of Ghana, who is presiding over the African Union.
We also expressed our support for a group of eminent African personalities led by the former United Nations Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, which should arrive in Nairobi shortly. In the meantime, President Kibaki has appointed his government without consultation with the opposition leader, Mr Odinga. The latter has called for mass demonstrations in Kenya in three days’ time."@en1
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