In Tense Kenya, Opposition Elects One of Its Own to Lead Parliament

NAIROBI, Jan. 15 -- Kenya's opposition party, which has accused President Mwai Kibaki of stealing a Dec. 27 election, scored a significant victory Tuesday when its candidate was elected speaker of parliament following a bitter and at times theatrical opening session.

The win occurred at a tumultuous time in the East African nation, where opposition allegations of vote-rigging touched off rioting and ethnically charged violence that left at least 500 people dead and more than 100,000 people displaced.

Tuesday's action was a serious setback for Kibaki, who had been declared winner of the presidential vote but had seen many of his allies, including cabinet members, lose in balloting for parliamentary seats. His party will now have to rely heavily on opposition support to govern or face deadlock.

"This will have such a calming effect on Kenyans," said Salim Lone, a spokesman for opposition leader Raila Odinga, just after Odinga's candidate, Kenneth Marende, won the speaker's post. "This lets Kenyans know there is justice."

The vote for speaker came as former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan was preparing to head to Nairobi to help negotiate an end to the impasse between Odinga and Kibaki. Annan was due in Nairobi on Tuesday but delayed his trip because he came down with flu, Lone said.

Meanwhile, international pressure increased on both sides to reach an agreement. The U.S. government has warned that it will not conduct "business as usual" with Kenya, a key ally in counterterrorism programs, until there is an accord. The European Union has threatened sanctions.

With tensions high and three days of nationwide opposition protests to start Wednesday, the first post-election parliamentary session was expected to be a raucous affair, and at times it was.

As Kibaki entered the red-carpeted, wood-paneled chamber, opposition lawmakers remained seated in defiance, while government supporters stomped their feet in approval.

Then Odinga came in, with an opposition leader announcing, "Mr. President!" followed by cheers and stomps and shouts of "The people's president!"

It was the first time since the election that the two men -- they have known each other for decades and were once allies -- were in the same room, and they did not seem to make eye contact.

The voting process that followed was spiked with jeers, hisses and name-calling.

At one point, an Odinga loyalist screamed at the government side, "You stole the vote!" while a government loyalist yelled "Murderer!" at one of Odinga's key supporters in parliament, whom some people accuse of manipulating ethnic violence.

At other times, though, there was an almost clubby atmosphere among the well-tailored, well-paid lawmakers, some of whom have known one another for years. Before sitting down in separate sections of the chamber, many of the rival politicians shook hands and slapped shoulders.

Throughout the tedious voting process, which involved hand-marking mint-green papers and dropping them one by one into a clear glass box, Kibaki sat off to the side in a carved wooden chair, his hands on his knees.

The leader, who is 76 and known for a courtly bearing and love of golf, has remained largely remote throughout the election crisis. Many Kenyans say that a tightly knit cabal around him is calling the shots.

Odinga's spokesman, Lone, said the nationwide protests set to begin Wednesday would go ahead as planned. The government has refused to allow the protests and over the past two weeks has confronted demonstrators with water cannons and tear gas.