Kenyan opposition wins vote for new speaker

Haroon Siddique
Tuesday January 15, 2008
Guardian Unlimited

...There was immediate speculation among Kenyan bloggers that Marande would refuse to swear in parliament following the disputed election results that triggered widespread violence.

Marende appeared to take a conciliatory tone in his acceptance speech, although he described his own victory as one that would go down in the "annals of history of this country as the most hotly contested election of the speaker".

He paid tribute to his "valiant" opponent who he said "fought honourably".

But Marende did urge parliament to "respect the will of the people of Kenya", in what could have been a reference to the disputed election, prompting some MPs to appreciatively thump the parliamentary benches.

Kibaki and Odinga are due to be sworn in as legislators later in the parliamentary session.

Despite international pressure for the two to meet for talks, today was the first time they had sat in the same room

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